Nine castles of the Knuckle

The nine castles of the Knuckle are a group of ancient castles found in Aberdeenshire along the north-east coast of the county, in the Buchan area.

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".

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.

Castle	Image	OS Grid Reference	Built by	Construction date	Destruction date	Current condition
Cairnbulg Castle	File:Cairnbulg Castle.jpg	NK017640	Comyn family; rebuilt by Fraser Family	13th century; rebuilt c.1380	N/A	Inhabited
Dundarg Castle	File:Geograph-285141-Des Colhoun-Dundarg Castle and Fort.jpg	NJ895648	Comyn family (?)	13th century	1334	Ruin
Inverallochy Castle	File:Remains of Inverallochy Castle - geograph.org.uk - 614169.jpg	NK040628	Comyn family			Ruin, few remains
Kinnaird Castle	File:Kinnaird Head Castle Lighthouse 20110520.jpg	NJ999675	Alexander Fraser of Philorth	1570	N/A	Converted into lighthouse
Lonmay Castle	File:Netherton - geograph.org.uk - 420251.jpg	NK063605				No remains
Pitsligo Castle	File:North-eastern part of Pitsligo Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1025288.jpg	NJ937670	Fraser family	1424		Ruin
Pittulie Castle	File:Geograph-317979-Des Colhoun-pittulie castle.jpg	NJ944670	16th century			Ruin
Castle of Rattray	File:Castle Hill Rattray Scotland.jpeg	NK088578	Comyn family (possibly by William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan)	Late 12th or early 13th century	15th century	No remains
Winetower	File:Kinnaird Head Castle Lighthouse 20110520 wine tower.jpg	NJ999675	Unknown	16th century	N/A	Preserved