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Publication Account

Date 1996

Event ID 1016430

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016430

At Tolquhon a spacious, confident solution can be seen to the changed accommodation needs of a Renaissance laird. By 1584 the dour confines of the medieval Preston Tower, built in 1420 with walls 3m thick, no longer provided an adequate standard of accommodation for the cultured laird, William Forbes. In that year he embarked on a radical 'new wark' (commemorated on a tablet to the right of the gatehouse), consisting of four ranges set round a courtyard.

That this was the building of a new, Renaissance man is seen first in the gatehouse which, with its thin walls, large windows and fanciful gun loops, is more a vehicle for displaying the Forbes and royal arms and a series of engaging sculptured figures than a serious defensive structure. The ranges that flank the inner courtyard were spacious and well appointed. The east range, incorporating the old tower, is the most ruinous; the south range, opposite the gatehouse, is a noble structure, once harled, with a little drum stair-tower bearing on the north-west skew stone the initials of the mason, Thomas Leiper. The ground floor of this range contains extensive service quarters, including an interesting servery in the drum; above were the hall and private chamber of the laird. The first floor of the west and south ranges consists of a most elegant gallery, in which the laird would have kept his books, and retiring rooms for conversation. The furnishings must be imagined from the inventory of 1589-books, tapestries, panelling, artillery and furniture.

The grounds of the castle were not neglected, a pleasance being laid out on the west and south sides, while 12 bee-boles can still be seen in the forecourt wall. A very similar arrangement of a Renaissance palace-plan wrapped round an earlier tower and graced by garden enclosures can be seen at Pitsligo (Nj 927669).

William Forbes died soon after his 'new wark' was completed. His tomb can still be seen in Tarves kirkyard (no. 43), a fine memorial to the creator of Tolquhon.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Aberdeen and North-East Scotland’, (1996).

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