The castle was the seat of the barony of Torthorston, held by the Cheynes family, and passed to the Keiths in the mid-14th century. A licence was granted to build a new castle in May 1491,[3] with the castle built on the banks of the Ugie and defended by a moat.
It is thought that King James VI of Scotland visited the castle in 1589 to attend the wedding of Rebecca Keith and Sir James Gordon of Lesmoir.[4] At that time the castle belonged to John Keith of Ravenscraig, whose half-brother William Keith of Delny was a courtier and diplomat who had tried to save the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587.[5]
Most of the castle's decorative features and dressed stone have been robbed; however, the vaulted ground floor and principal apartments on the first are still visible. "A circular stair in the re-entrant angle rose originally above the wall head into a turret."[3]
