The nine castles of the Knuckle are a group of ancient castles found in Aberdeenshire in the Buchan area of Scotland. The term was used by historian William Douglas Simpson, who described the promontory between the Moray Firth and the North Sea as "the north-eastern knuckle of Scotland".[1] From west to east, the castles are Dundarg, Pitsligo, Pitullie, Kinnaird, Wine Tower, Cairnbulg, Inverallochy, Lonmay and Rattray. Although Simpson coined the term, he did not draw any connections between the sites, other than their location.[1]
| Castle | Image | OS Grid Reference | Built by | Construction date | Destruction date | Current condition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairnbulg Castle | Comyn family; rebuilt by Fraser Family | 13th century; rebuilt c.1380[2] | N/A | Inhabited | |||
| Dundarg Castle | Comyn family (?) | 13th century | 1334 | Ruin | |||
| Inverallochy Castle | Comyn family | Ruin, few remains | |||||
| Kinnaird Castle | Alexander Fraser of Philorth | 1570 | N/A | Converted into lighthouse | |||
| Lonmay Castle | No remains | ||||||
| Pitsligo Castle | Fraser family | 1424 | Ruin | ||||
| Pittulie Castle | 16th century | Ruin | |||||
| Castle of Rattray | Comyn family (possibly by William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan) | Late 12th or early 13th century | 15th century | No remains | |||
| Winetower | Unknown | 16th century | N/A | Preserved |