Located 5 miles north-west of Elgin in Moray on the east coast of Scotland.
This typical Norman castle was built in the 14th century on the site
of an earlier wooden construction.
Today you can walk across the cobbled causeway and explore the stone ruins.
It is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
Free admission. Open all year.
The original seat of the Moray family, it is one of the finest examples of a motte and bailey castle in Scotland.
Skip Nolan visited several years ago and had this report to make:
'This must have been intended to be a major facility when the
mote and bailey were converted from wood to stone. The bailey wall is at
least 30 feet high in stone and encompasses what I would estimate to be over
an acre. But, the result of building such a heavy tower at the top of the
mote was a classic example of why not to build heavy structures on fill; the
weight caused the ground to slump and the building has split apart and is
slowly drifting down toward the bottom of the hill. What you see in the
picture is the gardyloo which originally was a part of the lord's solar in
the upper part, now slipped half way down the mote!'
For further information, visit the
web site by David Duffus which has a vast amount of information including the official HMSO guide to the castle, and an article on the
destruction of Duffus, plus a lot of historical information on this part of the country.
