#195 Balfluig Castle
One mile south of Alfred, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
1556
This is NOT an official Lego site

Balfluig Castle is an L-plan tower house.  The main block is a 24 by 34 foot rectangle of three stories, with a garret.  The offset wing joins the main block at its southeast corner, creating a re-entrant angle at both corners.  The offset wing is one story higher.  The semi-circular main staircase is at the re-entrant angle without the entrance doorway. Many of the small windows in the current castle were originally gunports, and, as far as I can discern, only the great hall window on the east was of a large size.  The pair of third floor windows on the east side of the main block appear to have been added in the most recent restoration.
The castle has been in the Forbes family for most of its existence. It ws built in 1556 by John Forbes of Balfluig.  The castle was burned is 1645 as retribution for several Forbes lords siding with the Covenanters.  This despite the fact that a Forbes cousin was on the winning Royalist side.  The castle was repaired, and occupied by further Forbes until 1753 when John Forbes sold his barony and the castle to Francis Farquharson of Haughton, and moved to Rotterdam.  The castle deteriorated and was eventually used as a farmhouse.  However, the castle finally became derelict in the 20th century.  It was bought and restored in 1966 by Mark Tennant.  It was sold again and further revitalized to its present state in 1998.  It apparently can be rented as a "self-catering holiday accommodation", though I could find no direct link on the internet.
Here are a pair of... ...pre-restoration photos .

 

Ground Floor Plan

 

Photos of the Lego Model
under construction in February 2025
On February 22, construction
begins with the base laid out.		 The door to the castle is added
in the larger re-entrant angle.		 The ground floor is quickly
completed.  The view from
the east.		 And the west, with former
gunports, now narrow windows,
in the large kitchen.
On February 23rd, the four
large windows are added to
the 2nd floor Great Hall.		 And the second story is
soon complete. The
southeast view.		 And from the southwest.
 And the front [east]...
 ...and the south, with its
main stair tower.
 The west view is quite accomodating!
And on the same day, the
third story is added.		 The southeast view... ...and the southwest.
 And on the northwest corner,
bartizan turret is defined.
On February 24 roofing begins! And the wing rises into its
fourth story.		 The bartizan turret is
soon ready to roof.
 And the junction of the main and
offset wing is strengthened
for further construction.

 

Photos of the Lego Model
Built February 22 - 24, 2025
Here is castle from
the east...
 ...and the southeast. The south view
emphasizes the
main stair tower.		 The southwest view
shows off the unusual
chimney complex.
The view from the west
is a nice angle.		 The northwest view
with its turret.		 The plain northeast
wall.		 And the classic view
from the northeast.

 

Build Your Own
Lego Ground Floor Plan
 Lego Top Down Plan
East Elevation
 North Elevation
 West Elevation
 South Elevation


Other Balfluig Castle pages:
https://www.clan-forbes.org/post/balfluig
https://canmore.org.uk/site/17552/balfluig-castle
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfluig_Castle
https://castle-finders.co.uk/Scotland/balfluig%2520castle.html

Return to the main castle page.

Castles created by Robert Carney
Page designed & maintained by Robert Carney