Scottish Castles Association

Knock Castle stands on a wooded hillock in Royal Deeside near Ballater on the River Dee. It would be difficult to find a better example of the traditional home of a Scottish laird – small in scale and simply planned.

LEFT: Knock Castle circa 1900 RIGHT: Knock Castle - 2016

It consists of a rectangular tower with 4ft-thick walls rising through four storeys from a vaulted basement; the only embellishment being a corbelled-out caphouse to the staircase and label corbelling on the corner turret. There are traces of the barmkin walls and of the buildings that once would have filled the courtyard.

An earlier tower stood on the site but this was destroyed by Clan Chattan in 1590 and replaced by the present tower around 1600.

Knock Castle is under the protection of Historic Scotland and open to the discerning public as it is not waymarked in any way.

Knock Castle circa 1900

Knock Castle - 2016

Article by SCA member Brian McGarrigle.