Cluny-Crichton castle is a few miles north and west of Banchory, and looks out across the Dee valley to the hills beyond – including, far to the west, Lochnagar. It is an L-plan building, with a square stair tower in the re-entrant angle, in which is the doorway, guarded as usual by shot-holes. Nothing remains within, not even the ground floor which, unusually, was not vaulted. According to the very pleasant farmer we spoke to, the castle was never lived in (other than by his cattle), but was sacked by catarans just as it was finished. Most of the dressed stone was subsequently taken for use in nearby farm buildings. I would have thought the place would be well worth reconstruction, but it would need the approval of Lord Cowdrey first, parts of whose estates it makes up.