Tour Scotland travel video, with Scottish music, of the restored Great Hall on visit to Castle Fraser near Kemnay in Aberdeenshire. The hall dates back to the 1400s. Thomas Fraser was granted lands around Muchall and Stoneywood, by King James II in the 1400s. Castle Fraser became the ancestral home of the Fraser family. The castle was captured and sacked by James Graham, leader of the royalist forces for Scotland, in the 17th century. Many alterations were made during the 18th and 19th centuries, to give the castle its current day look.
The castle was passed down through the Lords Fraser, the Frasers of Inverallochy and then the Mackenzie family who took the name Mackenzie Fraser. In 1897 the last male Fraser of the direct line, Frederick Mackenzie Fraser, died childless. In 1921 his widow, Theodora, sold the castle due to the lack of a suitable heir and mounting financial difficulties. The buyer was Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray. The Pearson family restored the castle as a shooting lodge. The surname Fraser was first found in Tweedale, Peebles-shire, where Sir Simon Frasee held part of the lands of Keith. There is a record of Symon Fraser giving the church of Keith to the Abbey of Kelso in 1160. Early records include Gilbert Fraser, who witnessed a charter by Walter Olifard in 1210. A later Sir Simon known as " the Scottish Patriot " was a supporter of Sir William Wallace in the struggle for independence. Spelling variations of this family name include: Frazer, Fraser, Frasher, Frisell, Frasee, Frazie, Frazier, Friselle, Fresser, Friser, Fryssar, Fressell, Fresal, Fresale, Frichell, Fraysser, Fresall, Fresle, Fresill, Fressair, Fraisser and many more.
This castle is closed at present due to the coronavirus pandemic.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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