- Location: Slains Castle, Cruden Bay, AB42 0NE
- Access: Car parking in Main Street, Cruden Bay, and 1 km north-east on A975. Both free.
- Opening Times: 24 hours
- Entry: No charge
Brooding atop its dramatic cliff-top location, the expansive and magnificent ruin of Slains Castle has a deceptive look of antiquity, but it was in fact only constructed at the end of the sixteenth century and remained fully functional well into the twentieth.
The castle was the home of the splendidly titled Earls of Erroll and was built by the ninth earl Francis Hay after his previous residence was blown up in 1594 on the orders of King James VI. This was in retaliation for the earl’s involvement in some Catholic skulduggery, but once he embraced the new Protestant faith he was welcomed back into royal favour and began work on his replacement home on the cliffs immediately north of Cruden Bay (then called Port Erroll). Significant alterations and additions were made in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the castle and its grounds were remodelled and extended in 1836 – 1837.
Slains Castle attracted the literati, with Samuel Johnson and James Boswell visiting in the summer of 1773 and Robert Burns knocked on its doors in September 1787. A young Walter Scott, then just fifteen, also visited that year. The writer most associated with the castle, however, is Bram Stoker. The Dracula author spent a dozen summers holidaying in Cruden Bay, even penning the opening chapters of his most famous book there in 1895. The castle’s unusual octagonal reception hall, still recognisable today, apparently served as partial inspiration for Castle Dracula: ‘The Count …. opened another door which led into a small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort’. The castle also served as the model for Kyllion, the secluded Cornish house in Stoker’s later novel The Jewel of the Seven Stars.
In 1925 the castle was sold to Charles Brand Ltd., an asset-stripper who specialised in selling the contents, furnishings, and building materials of Scottish castles. By removing the roof to sell the slates and lead, they condemned the once mighty Slains Castle to ruination. Despite talk of converting it into holiday homes in the mid-2000s, the castle remains accessible to both the elements and the public today, and it enjoyed one further flirtation with pop culture when it doubled as Barrogill Castle in Season one of The Crown.
Destination or Diversion?
Destination: A visit to Slains Castle can be combined with a day spent on Cruden Bay’s wonderful unspoilt beach, perhaps followed by some refreshments in the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel, where Bram Stoker’s signature can still be seen in the guest register.
