Visit to North Lodge, Fyvie, Aberdeenshire

The North Lodge stands at the Northern entrance to Fyvie Castle estate, off the A947, north of Fyvie. It’s an impressive-looking lodge house and arch that would have been the main entrance for visitors to Fyvie Castle from the North. It once stood on the Aberdeen to Banff road, but realignment of the road over the years means that it’s now a short distance from the main A947.

Fyvie’s then laird, William Gordon built the lodge in 1819, as part of his extensive modernisation of the estate. Now B-listed, the sandstone built lodge has a semi-circular arch with a flat above it, originally for the gatekeeper. Each corner has a round tower with a conical roof. Two crenellated screen walls bound the tower which mark the original path of the main road. These walls join onto the walls that mark the western edge of the estate policies.

On the plaster of the roof inside the archway, there are three sets of coats of arms. Two crests of the Gordon family are on either side of a panel containing the Leith crest. Imposing studded black doors are still present, which would have closed the arch, with a smaller door for personal access. There’s still a wrought-iron bell pull that would have alerted the gatekeeper to a visitor requiring access to the estate.

I paid a visit to the lodge when I was passing on my bike, hence its appearance in some of the photos! The lodge is starting to look a bit run down and in need of a spruce up, like many of the older buildings on the estates in this area. I’m not sure if it’s currently occupied (I’d think not), but it was certainly occupied in the days when I used to cycle through it on my way to catch the school bus.

I took the photos with an iPhone 11 – I’d like to go back with my DSLR to get some better shots, particularly of the architectural features on the higher parts of the building.