800 years of Brodie

This is Brodie Castle which lies between Nairn and Elgin. There have been Brodies in this area for over 800 years and their name was originally Brothie and was changed in the early sixteenth century. The earliest laird recorded is Malcolm who died in 1285 and his son held a charter as his father's heir, dated 1311, from King Robert the Bruce. So they go back a long way.

The construction date of the present building isn't known, nor whether it replaced an earlier building. The south-west tower you can see on the left of the photograph is dated 1567 and is a typical 'Z' plan tower house and is characteristic of the Scottish fortified house of the sixteenth century with its corbelled battlements and bartizans.

In 1645 the estate was pillaged and the house partially burnt by the Royalist army under the Marquis of Montrose and Lord Lewis Gordon during the Civil War. The house remained largely unchanged during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and it wasn't until 1838 that the architect James Wylson remodelled it to what we see today.

The house is now being held in trust by the National Trust for Scotland.