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Remains of a castle. The castle, which lies about 1.5 km from Kintore, was constructed within the old royal forest of Kintore on land that was granted to Robert Keith, Great Marischal of Scotland in 1309, by Robert Bruce. It seems certain that the castle was built by 1361 when a charter was signed by David II at 'apud manerium nostrum foreste de Kyntore'. On the building of Keith Hall by the first Earl of Kintore in 1665, Hallforest was abandoned and fell in to decay. It originally had four floors, having two vaults which were sub-divided by wooden floors. The main entrance was at first floor level, by means of a wooden ladder which could be retracted. The tower was planned as an oblong 14.6 m long by 9.1 m wide with walls about 2.1 m thick. The walls of the north, south and west elevations stand almost to wallhead height (20 m), while the upper parts of the east elevation have collapsed. The tower is constructed of random rubble roughly brought to courses, using large rounded granite field gatherings, well pinned and set in a hard mortar, with granite dressing. The walls have traces of lime render, showing that it was once harled. Internally the tower is vaulted above the basement level, which would have been divided by an entresol floor which appears to have functioned as a kitchen, and also above the first floor hall. There would have originally been a first floor doorway in the now ruinous east wall served by a ladder or external staircase, as there was no internal access between the basement and floors and the upper floors. Access between the upper floors was via a staircase in the southeast corner. The tower would originally have been surrounded by a courtyard and other buildings. Although there is no trace of structures today, a drawing by Giles in 1840 shows what maybe the remains of a barmekin wall. The stony bank to the north of the castle may represent the remains of this outer wall or enclosure. The castle is an early example of a tower, built in the turbulent years after the Wars of Independence. As such it is one a few early tower houses that mark the general adoption of this form of castle building by the Scottish nobility.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)