Tour Glamis Castle

Welcome to Glamis Castle in eastern Scotland. This castle is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, has particularly strong connections with British Royalty and its imposing battlements and turrets make it popular with visitors.

Tell me more about Glamis Castle

Glamis is pronounced ‘Glarms’. The castle is located close to the village of Glamis which 13 miles (21 km) north of Dundee and 74 miles (118 km) north of Edinburgh.

Records show the site had importance as far back as AD 700. The genesis of the current building was a keep (fortification) built in the 14th century by the second laird of Glamis. During subsequent years the family’s fortunes waxed and waned but during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there were sufficient resources to develop what was a fortalice into a baronial mansion with emphasis on status, replacing military defences with a formal baroque garden and sculpture walks.

The castle has been in the hands of the Lyon family since the 14th century. Today, the family is headed by the 18th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne, a title dating from the 17th century.

The British Royals connection with Glamis Castle is through Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, mother of Queen Elizabeth II and daughter of the 14th Earl, who was born at the castle in 1900. Her second daughter, Princess Margaret was also born at Glamis Castle, in 1930.

Things to see and do at Glamis Castle:

→A guided tour of the interior including the Victorian Dining Room, Duncan’s Hall, Medieval Crypt, 17th century Drawing Room, Chapel, Billiard Room and Royal Apartments. The castle is reputed to be haunted by a number of ghosts including that of Janet Douglas, widow of the 6th Lord Glamis, who was burned as a witch in the 16th century.

→A Nature Trail which benefits from an array of vibrant seasonal colours provided by rhododendrons, Douglas fir, copper beech, sweet chestnut and oak.

→Garden Walks which have been specially designed to enable visitors to enjoy the mixture of habitats at Glamis incorporating parkland, the Italian Garden, mixed woodland and the pinetum.

→Highland Cattle can usually be found in a field close to the castle. Very photogenic and normally quite placid animals.

→Italian Garden with pleached beech bowers and herbaceous borders. This was established in 1910 by Countess Cecilia.