Crathes Castle

Crathes Castle, a magnificent 16th-century tower house in Aberdeenshire, was built by the Burnett family beginning in 1553 and completed in 1596. The castle features stunning painted ceilings considered among the finest in Scotland, elaborate oak furnishings, and eight beautiful gardens. Protected by thick walls and defensive features typical of the turbulent Scottish Renaissance period, Crathes served as the Burnett family seat for over 400 years. The castle’s most famous feature—beyond its architectural splendor—is the Green Lady, one of Scotland’s most frequently witnessed and well-documented ghosts, whose tragic story was horrifyingly validated by archaeological discoveries.

The Green Lady has been seen by generations of residents and visitors, appearing as a young woman in a green gown carrying a baby in her arms. She manifests most frequently in the Green Lady’s Room, crossing from the fireplace to a window and then vanishing. Witnesses describe her as appearing solid and lifelike, with detailed period clothing and a sorrowful expression. The apparition appears completely silent, focused on the infant in her arms, seeming unaware of those who observe her. For centuries, the Burnett family and their guests reported these sightings, though the identity of the Green Lady remained a mystery shrouded in speculation about forbidden love and infant death.

The haunting took on chilling new significance during Victorian-era renovations when workers discovered the skeletal remains of a young woman and an infant hidden beneath the hearthstone in the very room where the ghost appeared. The discovery seemed to confirm the tragic legend: that a servant girl or nobleman’s daughter had given birth in secret, and both she and her child were murdered to conceal the scandal, their bodies hidden beneath the floor. Since this discovery, the Green Lady’s appearances have continued, though some witnesses report she seems more agitated, as if the disturbance of her remains has troubled her spirit. The castle, now owned by the National Trust for Scotland, acknowledges the haunting and the grim archaeological evidence that supports it. The Green Lady’s Room remains one of Scotland’s most authenticated haunted locations, where the line between legend and historical tragedy becomes impossibly blurred.