Cawdor Castle Nairn

Cawdor Castle is located only 12 miles from Inverness just outside Nairn. If you take the B9090 off the A96, you won’t have any difficulty getting to this destination. The castle is home to the Dowager Countess of Cawdor, the stepmother of Colin Robert Vaughan Campbell, who is the 7^th Earl of Cawdor and the 25^th Thane of Cawdor. Although this castle is privately owned, it opens to the public from May to October of each year.

Even though some think that Cawdor Castle was the inspiration for the Shakespearean tragedy, MacBeth, the castle was actually built after this play was written. The first documentation for the castle appears in 1454, when William, Thane of Cawdor was granted a building licence for the castle. An interesting fact about this castle is that it was built around a holly tree and you can still see the remains of the tree in the lower level of the tower. According to the experts, this tree died in the late 1300’s, which means that there was a building here prior to 1454.

When you visit Cawdor Castle, the grounds are something that will really catch your eye. These expertly landscaped gardens include Walled Garden, dating back to the 1700’s, a Flower Garden from the 1800’s and a Wild Garden from the 1960’s. There are also over 100 species of trees in the wooded area of the estate.

The fireplaces in the Great Hall of Cawdor Castle are reminiscent of the fireplaces used in the late 1600’s, but these fireplaces have been built since then and embellished with the symbols of the family – the stag head and buckle. However, the major part of the Great Hall does date back to the 17^th century. There are magnificent portraits on the walls of the descendants of today’s owners. At the end of the hall there is a minstrel’s gallery for the entertainment used in days of yore.

In the tapestry room of Cawdor Castle, you will see the marriage bed of Sir Hugh Campbell and Lady Henrietta Stuart, who were married in 1662. Although the bedding is new, it is done in the style recorded in Lady Henrietta’s diary, so what you see is the same as what would have been used centuries ago. The Flemish tapestries date back to 1682 and are woven from wool and silk. You can see the original bill for the tapestries when you visit this room of the castle.

The old kitchen of Cawdor Castle is not a place where you would want to do any cooking today, but it was in use as late as 1930. It has a very unique design, being dug into the rock so that the water in springtime seems to supply all the water needs for cooking. The stove you see here dates back to the 1900’s but you can still see spit above it that was used for cooking the meat over the fire in the 1700’s.

If you are looking for a journey back in time when you visit Scotland, a visit to Cawdor Castle should definitely be on your itinerary.

Opening Times
Open every day from May 1st to October 8th 2006, between 10am and 5.30pm, last admission to house - 5pm

Admission
Adults £7.00
Adult parties (+20) £6.10
Senior Citizens and Disabled £6.00
Student (with valid student I.D. card) £6.00
Family Ticket (2 Adults + up to 5 children aged 5 to 15) £22.00
Children (aged 5 to 15) £4.30
Children's parties (20+) (one teacher free with every 20 pupils) £3.70
Blind people no charge
Gardens, Grounds & Nature Trails only £3.70

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