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The Wine Tower, also known as the Chapel Tower, is a 16th Century stone tower built by the Frasers of Philorth a short distance to the south east of the former Kinnaird Head Castle (NJ96NE0006). To date, no satisfactory explanation of its existence has been produced. It is roughly built of rubble with three vaulted storeys, the centre reached by a hatch from the uppermost. This first floor level is lit only by one small window in the east wall. The original entrance is at second floor level and had been reached by a ladder or movable stair, arriving at a landing supported by two stone corbels which are still extant. The outer doorway admits to a small vestibule which is closed by an inner door beneath which is the hatch to the two lower levels. The upper chamber has a window in each of its four walls and has a remarkable series of finely carved heraldic pendant bosses, three in the main vault and one in each of the four arched window soffits. Heraldic evidence contained within the pendants seem to indicate that the tower was built between 1559 and 1606 - probably soon after 1559, the year when Sir Alexander Fraser of Philorth married his first wife Magdalen Ogilvie, daughter of Ogilvie of Dunlugus. The carvings on the pendants are amongst the finest 16th Century heraldic carvings extant in Scotland. Bryce suggests that this upper chamber was designed to serve as a Roman Catholic chapel. The fact that this chamber was raised, concealed, semi-defended and provided with two 'secret' chambers below, points to the true date of this enigmatic structure as belonging to the period of the Reformation in Scotland. The Wine tower pendant of the crest of the Frasers of Philorth is the earliest example of the Fraser of Philorth Eagle / Falcon crest. Seven pendants have been recorded within the upper chamber of the tower. At the north end is an Arma Christi, Christ's armorial coat of arms. It depicts the emblems of the crucifixion: angels on two sides with fingers pointing down to a heart surrounded by a crown of thorns and just above, pierced hands and feet, nails, a hammer and a scourge. The presence of this pendant may support the theory of the upper chamber being used as a chapel. At the south end are the Royal Arms of Scotland. This has two unicorns with horns and crossed and the Royal motto 'In Defens' on a scroll around the top. The carved crest was first assumed by King James V soon after the middle of the 16th Century. In the centre is a pendant with the Arms of Fraser of Philorth, showing a shield with the arms of the Frasers of Philorth. The shield at the bottom is held in the claws of an eagle which has a key in its beak, and on an entwined ribbon is the inscription 'The Glory of the Honourable is to Feir God'. Four of the pendants are at the windows of the chamber. At the West window is a pendant bearing the Arms of Fraser impaling Ogilvie, commemorating the marriage of Sir Alexander Fraser, 8th Laird of Philorth, and his first wife Magdalen Ogilvie in 1559, and the Arms of Fraser impaling Barclay, the grandparents of Sir Alexander Fraser, the 8th Laird, namely Alexander Fraser and Katharine Barclay of Gairntully. At the East window is a pendant bearing the Arms of Fraser impaling Keith, parents of the 8th Laird, namely Alexander and Beatrice Keith, daughter of the Master of Marischal, and the Arms of Keith impaling Douglas, the maternal grandparents of Alexander, the 8th Laird, namely Robert De Keith, Master of Marischal, and his wife Beatrix, daughter of John Douglas, 2nd Earl of Morton. At the South window is a pendant bearing the Arms of Fraser impaling Keith, the paternal great-grandparents of Alexander, 8th Laird, namely Alexander, 6th Laird, ad Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Gilbert Keith of Inverugie, and the Arms of Fraser impaling Hay, the paternal great-grandparents of Alexander, 8th Laird, namely Alexander, 4th Laird, and his wife Margaret, daughter of William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll. At the North window, the pendant has been severely eroded by exposure to the North wind. It appears to bear the Arms of Gordon, Earl of Huntly, and the Arms of Erskine, however neither family being ancestors of the Frasers of Philorth. A possible interpretation is that because the tower was built after the Reformation, the inclusion of the Arma Christi indicates Sir Alexander still remained true to the Old Faith and was a Roman Catholic. This eroded pendant is adjacent to the Arma Christi, and the Earls of Huntly were the leading Roman Catholic Dynasty in the North East. The Erskines, at that time, were also staunch Roman Catholics, so Sir Alexander may have been paying a compliment to both families and showing 'solidarity' with them. A programme of restoration works was carried out in 1991 by Banff and Buchan District Council. A watching brief was maintained by Kirkdale Archaeology in May 2011 during excavation of a new foundation trench for a stair base at the tower. Removal of the stair and widening of the footprint if the existing concrete foundation revealed no archaeological features.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)