Cawdor Castle – Old Fashioned Romance

The day that we went to see the Clava Cairns we drove past a sign pointing out that we were close to Cawdor Castle, instantly I was transported back to English Literature classes at school and scenes from Macbeth ‘The Scottish Play’ immediately sprung to mind. Macbeth has always been my favourite Shakespeare play after all what more you you want from a piece of theatre? It has passion, treachery, murder and an impressive cast of witches! Macbeth was of course the ‘Thane of Cawdor‘ and it is these very thanes that built the castle, and the Cawdor family that still lives in this beautiful old building today.

Cawdor Castle

If Scotland had to offer up a fairytale castle this would be it, the grounds and gardens, and way that the castle looks as you approach it make it feel as though it could have come straight from the pages of a story book. But this is not a cold and desolate monument to the past it is very much alive and as mush a part of the country today as it was when it was built at the end of the 14th century. Back then it was a private fortress, the original part of the tower being built around a legendary holly tree. The legend relates to the search for a site on which to build the fortress, a donkey was sent out and wherever the animal lay to rest was where the fortress would be built, after days and nights of wandering it finally lay down to rest beside a holly tree, this tree, or what remains of it can be seen in the base of the tower today.

Castle Gardens

It has taken 600 years of different Cawdor family occupations to achieve the castle that we see today, the last additions to the structure being added in the 17th century. What you find is strong defensive structure that holds inside it a very warm and welcoming interior. Ancient state rooms are filled with modern family photographs that are dotted between pieces of antique furniture and fabulous tapestries and wall hangings. The atmosphere is friendly, the staff approachable and the grounds and gardens are beyond beautiful.

They made it!

The gardens are laid out into separate areas, one of which houses a hedged maze. Feeling that it would not do anything for my claustrophobia I stayed in the garden while father and son ventured into the maze. They were in there for quite some time, groups of German and American tourists came and went, having little difficulty solving the amazing maze. All I could hear was ‘Daddy we’re back in the middle again!’ or ‘We’ve been this way already daddy!’ They would come into sight occasionally and then disappear from view as they tried to find the way out. Of course they did make it out eventually, a little befuddled and frustrated (as the picture shows!) but it all added to the enjoyment of the day.