Situated in Cluny Parish, Aberdeenshire, the grey granite Cluny Castle lies 1½ miles (2.5 km) to the south of Monymusk. A stronghold of the Gordon family built in the early 17th Century, Cluny was rebuilt in the 1830s in its present Neo-Tudor style, financed by profits from the family's estates in the West Indies. Designed by Aberdeen-based John Smith (1781 - 1852), the original Z-plan tower house was greatly extended into a grand three-storey toy fort, with prominent round towers rising a further storey and dividing the front into three. Each tower features corbelled-out parapets. The entrance is through a three-bay arcade between these towers, while there is a fine entrance hall and stair, drawing room, library, morning room and dining room. The castle appeared in the film The Queen (2006) starring Helen Mirrin.
