Crieff: Drummond Castle and Gardens

I love castles. The idea that these magnificent stone structures were built hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago and continue to dominate the countryside around them intrigues me. Drummond Castle in Crieff, Scotland was built in 1490 by John, 1st Lord Drummond and went through major transformations and remodelling around 1630 and 1890.  The imposing Drummond Castle Keep is the first part of the complex that you see from the car park, after driving down the exquisite Beech Avenue which is over a mile long. 

Drummond Castle is not open to the public but that is not the reason you visit here anyway.  The major reason to visit here is to see the exquisite Drummond Gardens.

The Drummond Gardens are laid out in the design of a St Andrew’s Cross.  These formal gardens are expertly divided into sections with shrubs, deciduous tress, maples, topiary, coniferous trees and twenty-one types of apples but I realised quite quickly that I was out of my depth.

I’m certainly not an expert on fauna and plant life so I took a relaxing walk around the gardens and just appreciated all of the sights.  Click on any of the photos for a better resolution.

John Mylne’s Sundial (above left and centre) lies right in the middle of the St Andrew’s Cross and was erected in 1630.  It is known as a multiplex sundial and apparently shows the time in different countries.  I can’t comment on that because I have never, even managed to tell the time on a sundial! 

I loved the detail on this arch that formed the bottom boundary of the garden, leading to the rose and vegetable gardens.

In the bottom photo here you can see the copper beech tree that Queen Victoria planted when she visited in 1842.  It is strange to imagine that this magnificent tree must have been a mere shrub 169 years ago!

I really love this photo and it shows what a gorgeous day it was when we visited.  It occurs to me that I managed to get no pictures whatsoever of the grounds people.  That is quite a feat as there were so many of them!They work nearly every day and it takes them a full year to complete a maintenance cycle!  They are obviously very talented!

It said in the brochure that the bridge in the photos above was the original drive.  I guess that means that we came in through the back entrance and that the gardens were once to the front of the castle as opposed to the back.  That makes sense really.

This is Drummond Castle and was largely remodelled and rebuilt in the mid-19th century.  I saw this particular style of architecture, which I believe to be Scots Baronial Style, all around Scotland and I really love the creepy haunted house look.  If you look carefully at the photo above, you can see black birds flying around the turrets of the castle above and they certainly added to the eerie sense of foreboding!

This last photo was taken from the top and Ste was looking down over the gardens.  The scenery was breath taking (as it so often is in Scotland) and we had a hard time tearing ourselves away.