Bucholie Castle or a predecessor is said to have been built around 1140 by Sweyn Asliefson, a Norse pirate and privateer. However, the buildings visible today were built by the Mowat family, who received the land from King Robert the Bruce.
The castle stands on a 30-metre-high peninsula and is separated from the land by a moat about 2 metres wide and 3 metres deep. Only the high western wall and part of the south wall of the castle remain.
The headland in front of the gatehouse as part of the keep tapers to an extremely narrow point, with unstable cliffs on either side of an unstable step to the entrance. Entering the castle is therefore too dangerous.