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New Slains Castle is on the Aberdeenshire
Coast, 27 miles north of Aberdeen, 1
mile northeast of the Village of Cruden Bay,
that has a long Sandy Beach.
This Castle was built from the 1500s for
Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll, with much of
what can be seen today built around the
original Tower in the 1830s. The Castle is
linked to the Dracula Novel. Postcode: AB42
0NE
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Camping & Touring Parks in
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The image top is of New Slains Castle from
the Path leading to the Castle. There is a 1
mile path from Cruden Bay Village out to the
Castle. There is also a Car Park a few hundred
yards north of the Castle, or you can drive
right up to the Castle where there is also
Parking. The Road from the Main Car Park to the
Castle is loose surface.
The second image is of the East Side of the
Castle next to the Rugged Coastline.
This is a good area to view nesting Sea
Birds, with the Bullers of Buchan Sea Cliffs 1
mile further north. You can walk from New
Slains Castle, or drive up to a Car Park by the
Cliffs. Walk
Information.
Birds that can be found along this coast
are: Kittiwake, Puffin, Fulmar, Shag,
Razorbill, Guillemot, Herring Gulls, Eider
Duck, and Gannet.
Castle History
1300s - Clan Hay gained
control of land in this area as they supported
King Robert the
Bruce in the First War of Scottish
Independence.
The Bruce awarded Clan Hay the original
Slains Castle,
5 miles south of where New Slains Castle stands
today.
The original Slains Castle had been the
property of the Comyn's, Earls of Buchan, who
had fought against The Bruce.
1453 - Sir William Hay was made Earl of
Erroll by King James II.
1560 - the Reformation in
Scotland made Catholic Worship illegal.
Protestant Churches were then supposed to
regard the King as the head of their Churches,
leading to a number of Wars.
1585 - Francis Hay
became the 9th Earl of Erroll. Hay was involved
in Rebellions with other Nobles, trying to
restore Catholic Worship in Scotland.
1594 - Hay was declared a Traitor by King
James VI, leading to Old Slains Castle being
destroyed then Hay fleeing abroad.
1597 - Hay returned to Scotland, making
peace with the King.
Hay then began the building of the Tower of
New Slains Castle.
1820 - William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll,
married Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence,
illegitimate daughter of King William IV.
1830s - William Hay had a Scottish Baronial
Style Mansion built around the original
Tower.
1893 to 1910 - the author Bram Stoker
visited Cruden Bay on holidays.
1895 - Bram Stoker
began writing the novel Dracula while staying
at the Kilmarnock Arms
Hotel in Cruden Bay.
This Book contains reference to an Octagonal
Room in Castle Dracula, with New Slains Castle
by Cruden Bay having an Octagonal Hall.
Bram Stoker also wrote two Novels while at
Cruden Bay, The Watter's Mou' - 1895, and The
Mystery of the Sea -1902.
1913 - the 20th Earl of Erroll sold New
Slains Castle to Sir John Ellerman, of Ellerman
Lines Shipping Company.
1925 - the Roof of New Slains Castle was
removed to avoid paying Taxes.
2004 - Plans were made to restore the Castle
to be used as Holiday Apartments.
2007 - Planning Permission was granted for
New Slains Castle to be restored.
2008 - a Financial Crises hit the UK, and
most of the World, leading to plans for the
restoration of New Slains Castle being put on
hold.
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