Gordon Castle Estate

General information

Completed as one of Scotland’s largest houses in the 1770s by the Duke of Gordon, Gordon Castle is the spiritual home of the House of Gordon, one of Scotland’s oldest families. The estate nestles in the Spey valley, in the heart of whisky country, with a stretch of the Spey River running through the estate, which boasts some of the best salmon fishing in the world. For information about Gordon Castle Estate visit www.gordoncastle.co.uk

By the early twentieth century the Gordon Castle Highland Games had become a hugely popular event, regularly attracting crowds of over 30,000. Thanks to the patronage and great enthusiasm of the then Duke and Duchess of Richmond and Gordon the Games became renowned throughout Scotland, playing host to many famous competitors including heavy champion George Clark of Banffshire. By the late 1920s the Gordon Castle Highland Games had become synonymous with world record breaking escapades in the heavy events and was an unmissable fixture in the Highland Games calendar. www.gordoncastlehighlandgames.co.uk

The Games were halted during the Great War as the castle was used as an auxiliary hospital to care for injured soldiers. In 1938, the Castle and Estate was sold to the Crown Estate following two successive deaths leaving the family with unmanageable death duties to pay. It fell into disrepair before being ‘rescued’ by war hero and much loved soldier Lieutenant General Sir George Gordon Lennox (grandson of the 7th Duke of Richmond and Gordon) after World War Two. He was forced to knock down much of the original house due to dry and wet rot, but he and his wife began the loving restoration, which Angus Gordon Lennox (Grandson of Sir George) and his wife Zara, continue today.

In 1976, to celebrate the bicentenary of the local village of Fochabers, Sir George and his wife staged a special one-off Highland Games in the grounds of Gordon Castle. Inspired by the historic event some 30 years past, the legendary heavy event competitor Hamish Davidson approached the current laird with a proposal to resurrect the annual games. Angus Gordon Lennox was taken by the romance of the idea and in 2011 the first Gordon Castle Highland Games and Country Fair took place. The event has been running annually ever since and attracts an international and national audience of 10,000 visitors to the one-day traditional event.

Today, the Castle operates as an exclusive use venue for luxury escapes, weddings, corporate events and fishing parties.