Kingedward Castle

The ruins of Kingedward Castle sit on high ground adjacent to the main road south of Macduff, and one fragment is clearly visible from the road. However the site is overgrown with trees and is not signposted. It is accessible to the public, but as there is no parking vehicles will need to talk to the farmer about access. The ruins are those of a 13th century courtyard castle erected by the Comyn earls of Buchan, probably sacked in 1308 but potentially brought back into use during the latter 14th and perhaps early 15th century.

The courtyard follows the shape of a tapering rectangle, with a round tower at the narrow southern end, a hall building on either long side, and the principal entrance to the north, probably over a timber bridge across the deep ditch. It is feasible that round towers sat at the ends of this frontage, and that there was a gatehouse of sorts with at least one tower. After the destruction of the Comyn earldom, Kingedward was a barony granted to the earls of Ross, and the castle remained the seat of barony. The last lord to have used the castle may have been the notorious Wolf of Badenoch in right of his wife – before she divorced him.

HES Canmore database entry