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Stone tower with wooden footbridge perched on a rocky coastal cliff
Aberdeenshire

Kinnaird Head Castle and The Wine Tower

A 16th-century castle of the Frasers at Fraserburgh, turned in 1787 into Scotland's first mainland lighthouse, now the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, with the mysterious Wine Tower on the rocks below.

Welcome

On the headland at the northern tip of Fraserburgh, where Buchan meets the open sea, stands a building like no other in Scotland: a tall 16th-century castle with a lighthouse growing out of its roof.

The Frasers of Philorth built Kinnaird Head Castle to lord it over their new planned town, and in 1787 they sold it to the Northern Lighthouse Board, who set a light on top of the tower. It was the first lighthouse on mainland Scotland.

Today it is part of the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, which tells the story of the Northern Lighthouse Board, the engineers who built the lights and the keepers who kept them burning. Inside the castle, the old kitchens and parts of the great hall still survive.

Below it, on the rocks above the waves, stands the Wine Tower, a strange little pre-Reformation building whose vaulted upper room has seven carved stone pendants in its roof.

A little further outCullykhan BayA sandy cove below the site of Fort Fiddes.21 min by roadSee itGrassy headlands enclose a small sandy beach with gentle waves
Before you go

The museum opens daily, 10am to 4pm.

Tours up the lighthouse are paused for maintenance at present, so tickets are for the museum only. Adults £12.50, children £6, families £26.

Where
Stevenson Road, Fraserburgh AB43 9DU.
Telephone
01346 511022.

Opening hours

Monday
10am–4pm
Tuesday
10am–4pm
Wednesday
10am–4pm
Thursday
10am–4pm
Friday
10am–4pm
Saturday
10am–4pm
Sunday
10am–4pm

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Where it is

On Kinnaird Head at the north end of Fraserburgh, on the north-east corner of Aberdeenshire.

Close byFraserburgh.
  1. Stone tower on a rocky headland, seen beyond rooftop chimneysMuseum of Scottish LighthousesUnder a mile 1 min by road
  2. Fraserburgh Golf ClubFraserburgh Golf ClubFounded in 1777 and the fifth oldest club in Scotland, with a Braid-redesigned links at Philorth, on the north-east corner of Aberdeenshire.Under a mile as the crow flies
  3. Afternoon tea on a lace cloth in the Nooks & Crannies courtyard.Nooks & CranniesUnder a mile 2 min by road
  4. PennanPennanA single street of cottages below the cliffs.12 miles 18 min by road
  5. Gannets nesting on a steep coastal cliff face above the seaTroup HeadGannet cliffs on the headland west of Pennan.14 miles 24 min by road
Directions
The orange lifeboat moored in Sandhaven harbour below the village.AttractionsSandhaven Meal Mill2.3 miles
The Water of Philorth winding through dunes and salt marsh to the sea.WalksWaters of Philorth3.0 miles
Small boats in Rosehearty harbour at low water, the breakwater behind.AttractionsRosehearty Harbour4.6 miles
The ruined walls of Pitsligo Castle standing over a green lawn.AttractionsPitsligo Castle4.7 miles
A road running between green fields beside the golf course at Inverallochy.WalksInverallochy and Whitelinks Bay5.2 miles
Dark rocks and reef along the shore at Aberdour Beach, the sea beyond.AttractionsNew Aberdour Beach9.1 miles
The blue front of Strichen Antiques under its sign.ShoppingStrichen Antiques9.1 miles
Konik ponies at the water's edge on the Strathbeg marshes, their reflections below them.AttractionsRSPB Loch of Strathbeg9.6 miles
White lighthouse on a stone base rising from open seaAttractionsRattray Head12 miles

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