What is recorded here

Crathes Castle Policies holds a cistern and an icehouse, practical structures built to serve the castle during the Post Medieval period. They reveal how the estate stored water and kept food cold before modern machines arrived. The icehouse may have swallowed summer heat into its dark walls while the cistern gathered rain for kitchens and gardens. Together they show that even a grand castle depended on hidden, patient work beneath its shine.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Crathes Castle Policies as Cistern (period Unassigned), Icehouse (period Unassigned). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 1m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Crathes Castle Policies, located in Aberdeenshire, were developed as part of the estate of Crathes Castle, which was built by the Gordon family in the 16th century. The policies are historically important as they reflect the layout and management of a typical Scottish castle estate during the early modern period.

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