Tolquhon Castle (pronounced: "toh-hon", and sometimes spelt 'Tolquhoun') is located in Aberdeenshire, about 20 miles northwest of Aberdeen. The current castle was built by William Forbes, 7th Laird of Tolquhon from 1584-1589 to replace an earlier towerhouse known as Preston's Tower, which is still partly intact, forming the left-hand tower when viewed from in front of the gatehouse (at the northern corner).
The castle features unusual gun ports in the towers adjacent to the entrance, a design which was subsequently used in Dean Castle. Also unusual is the stone tilework in the main hall.
Famous quotes containing the word castle:
“If, in looking at the lives of princes, courtiers, men of rank and fashion, we must perforce depict them as idle, profligate, and criminal, we must make allowances for the rich men’s failings, and recollect that we, too, were very likely indolent and voluptuous, had we no motive for work, a mortal’s natural taste for pleasure, and the daily temptation of a large income. What could a great peer, with a great castle and park, and a great fortune, do but be splendid and idle?”
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863)