The lands of Barra were once a possession of the Comyn family prior to the Wars of Independence, whereby they passed to the Family of King.  Barra Castle, or its predecessor was in 1247, and for more than two centuries after, the seat of the Kings (later of Dudwick in Ellon), who along with the Forbes Family, were long at feud with the Seton Family of Meldrum and the House of Gordon.  The Kings of Barra were long at feud with the Seton's of Meldrum, which feud might have been expected to come to a close towards the end of the 16th century when James King sold Barra to the Seton's.  But no; as late as 1615, Elizabeth Seton pursued at law James King "sumtyme of Barra' and others for being art and part in the slaughter of her father, Alexander, fiar of Meldrum, 'with schottis of hagbuttis and muscattis, commited upon the landis of Barra...' (the Braes of Bourtie). 

Nevertheless, Barra passed by purchase from the Kings of Barra to the Seton’s of Meldrum in the 16^th century.  William Seton, 5th of Meldrum, married as his second wife, Margaret Innes of Leuchars and had his 4^th son George Seton, Chancellor of St. Machar’s Cathedral in  Aberdeen. It was George Seton who enlarged the Castle and added the conical towers. His emblems of three entwined crescents, over-top of the windows, can been outside the Castle still to this day, mark his work which was completed in two stages: 1st in 1614 and 2nd in 1618.  Although Barra is Assuredly one of the most attractive of the lesser castles of Aberdeenshire, it was never fully completed to George Seton's original plan.

In design Barra Castle is an intricate and singular variation of the L plan type, the main block lying north/south with a circular tower at the south west. At the south east a D plan tower. An 18th century addition runs eastward from the north end of the main block forming a square court closed on the east side by a wall containing the entrance. The basement of the main block is vaulted. In its present form it is chiefly the work of George Seton who was granted the estates in 1598.  He maintained it until 1630 when he sold it to James Reid, (his grandson was created a baronet in 1703), and who's family kept it until 1753, when it was sold to the Ramsay family, who added the north-east extension before passing to the Forbes-Irvine family of Drum.