10 minute read
Spotlight on Cawdor Castle with Lady Cawdor
Built as a private fortress and connect to Shakespeare's great Scottish play, Cawdor Castle has been the Cawdor family home for over 600 years. Dream Escape meets Lady Cawdor, who –together with her late husband and team – has lovingly conserved the building and gardens, set in the stunning Scottish Highlands.
With its great medieval tower, turrets and drawbridge, this fairy-tale castle in Nairnshire was built in 1370 as a private fortress by the Thanes of Cawdor. While most Scottish castles are now unoccupied or run by trusts, Cawdor has hosted over 23 generations of the Cawdor family, and today, despite all its imposing grandeur, Lady Cawdor calls this beautiful corner of the Scottish Highlands home.
Inside is a collection of fine art, historic tapestries and antique furniture, and the castle is set in acres of grounds – with three beautiful and diverse gardens, surrounded by one of the finest ancient woodlands in the UK. Lady Cawdor’s late husband, Hugh Campbell (the 6th Earl of Cawdor), opened the castle to visitors in 1976, and today there are countless reasons to visit and explore.
“I consider myself this generation’s guardian of this historic building,” says Lady Cawdor. “The castle has a harmonious atmosphere and visitors tend to feel this too. Old buildings have a very specific atmosphere, and what I appreciate about Cawdor is that we have a very good relationship. When I live in it, I feel protected, and when it opens up to the public, I move to a little house not very far away.”
Living in a castle might feel overwhelming, but Lady Cawdor assures me that she never feels alone. “There’s a warmth about the castle,” she says. “We get lots of comments about how homely the castle is. It tends to be quite cool and soothing in the summer, and in the winter, when I’m sitting by my fireplace, I’m very snug and warm.”
She also has a strong belief in the positive energy of past residents. “I don’t feel that we have any ghosts. I believe a ghost is someone who doesn’t know they’re dead or hasn’t accepted they’re dead. Whereas what we have at Cawdor are presences. Like an old-fashioned photograph or a negative, presences are just strong emotional imprints of people who’ve lived here.”
One of the most unique things about Cawdor is its genuine live-in feel. The building has been permanently inhabited for hundreds of years, and this unique character draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. “My husband, Hugh, opened the castle to visitors in 1976. We married in 1979, and while I wasn’t part of the opening, I understood how strongly he felt about sharing this place’s important role in local history.
“Last year, we had 120,000 visitors, and this year, we’ll have had quite a lot more than that. The number one thing that comes up in the visitor book is that the castle feels alive and full of energy, rather than a museum.”
The castle’s literary leanings are also responsible for drawing visitors from across the globe. Famed for its connection to Shakespeare’s
Macbeth, the actual 11th-century events of the play took place many years before the castle was built. Even so, the castle remains tied to the playwright’s most infamous work.
“Shakespeare is our best PR,” says Lady Cawdor. “I’m very grateful for the link, and many people come to see us because they’ve studied the Scottish play at school or simply love Shakespeare.”
“But, I’m rather sorry for the great King Macbeth. His reign in Scotland was a golden period during the Middle Ages. He ruled successfully for 14 years – when the average was around five years. He also lived in Rome for three years, and when he returned, he still had a throne. Given Scotland’s history – especially Highland history – that is extraordinary. So, I admire the great king, and I’m sorry that Shakespeare has completely ruined his reputation!”
Lady Cawdor is responsible for many contemporary updates to the castle – namely, her growing collection of commissioned and gathered artworks. Visitors can admire everything from original sculptures to paintings and ceramics, and the collection ranges from British sculpture legends such as Henry Moore, Lynn Chadwick and Kenneth Armitage to 18th-century portrait masters and founding members of the Royal Academy (Sir Joshua Reynolds and Francis Cotes) to emerging local artists.
“There’s quite a lot of contemporary art in the castle. People have this idea that to have modern art, you have to live in modern surroundings. But, I think new pieces fit perfectly well with the 16th-century tapestries and oil paintings.
“I think that there’s always harmony in marrying things together because you love them, as opposed to only collecting things because they’re valuable. I care more about how things feel – it’s about love and not about money.”
The castle’s maze is both a work of art and labour of love, created by Hugh in 1981. “The maze is taken from the Minotaur's Labyrinth at Knossos outline, which Hugh discovered in a Roman villa in Northern Portugal. He fell in love with the design and said, ‘This is my maze!’
“He planted it in holly as an homage to the holly tree in the castle's centre.” According to legend, the castle was built around the tree (which dates as far back as 1372), and perhaps the site was chosen for religious reasons in symbolic connection with Christ’s thorny crown.
Lady Cawdor also brought her passion for organic gardening and wildlife conservation to the castle. “When I accepted to marry Hugh, there were two things that I asked him to do,” she explains. “One was to stop smoking, and the second was that our gardens become organic. The earth is a living organism, and so it makes perfect sense to look after it – the idea of throwing all those horrible
“We have bird tables all around the castle, including on several windows. Visitors are fascinated to see red squirrels eating their peanuts at the dining room window – a good 40-50ft up from the ground!” poisons on top of it has never made sense to me.
“I grew up with this sense of reverence for the Earth. The element of conservation is also important. We don’t own the Earth – the Earth owns us. We’re just stewards.”
Her vision and the hard work of the castle’s team have meant the castle is a haven for wildlife.
There are plenty of different types of garden birds and even red squirrels. “We have bird tables all around the castle, including on several windows.
Visitors are fascinated to see red squirrels eating their peanuts at the dining room window – a good 40-50ft up from the ground!”
Looking to the future, the team plans to continue its conservation work and Lady Cawdor intends to keep growing her collection of eclectic artworks. “We have a busy period ahead of us with plenty of work to do on the castle.” But winter also means she can return to her castle quarters and her cosy spot by the fire…
Five Minutes With Graham Griffith, Castle Cawdor’s Managing Director And Castle Tour Leader
What makes Cawdor Castle so unique?
“No two days are ever the same – I’ll be looking after visitors and guiding a group tour one day, and the next, I’ll be trying to figure out a way to fix a flag on top of a 30m tower with no access to modern machinery! Maintaining a building like this is so unique – it’s been standing for over 600 years.”
What can visitors expect from a private tour of the castle? “We’ll always cover the general history of the building, the family and the collections, but the best tours are when guests interact, and the tour turns into a conversation rather than a lecture. That’s when the more interesting stories or unusual points of interest can come up – like how one of the Thanes of Cawdor in the 18th century graffitied one of the windows with a diamond-tipped pen on his birthday!”
What are three of your highlights to see at Cawdor Castle?
1. The artworks
“The collections at Cawdor are full of beautiful objects. There’s an interesting mix, from fine art and sculpture to furniture and ceramics. It’s not so much a carefully curated collection but more a juxtaposition of antiques and artefacts. The current Dowager Countess Cawdor’s modern and contemporary collections work together, too. At some point, these pieces were loved by someone, and they ended up at Cawdor.”
2. The Cawdor Big Wood
“I’m lucky enough to live just a few miles away from the castle, and my commute to work is a walk through the Cawdor Big Wood. It has been a natural oak woodland since the last Ice Age and has over 10 miles of nature trails, so I never have to take the same route twice. It also has the largest lichen collection in the UK because our air is incredibly clean. Look out for the special non-native species, including giant redwoods, monkey puzzle trees and rare Himalayan pine and spruce. It’s all accessible for guests to enjoy.”
3. The Cawdor Castle Guidebook
“This isn’t a sales pitch! The late 6th Earl of Cawdor wrote the guidebook and room notes, and they are unlike any other informative guide you’ve read before. Lord Cawdor had an incredible ability to write with such wit and humour, and it still makes me laugh out loud!”
Tours And The Opportunity To Meet Lady Cawdor
Thanks to Dream Escape’s close relationship with Cawdor Castle, we can arrange private tours and, by special arrangement, a meeting with Lady Cawdor for you to learn more about the fascinating history.
HOLLY MACKIE - OWNER AND DIRECTOR
Cawdor Castle is a treasure trove of history and legend, making it a mustvisit destination for Dream Escape guests. I especially love the enchantingly whimsical founding myth of the 3rd Thane of Cawdor who loaded a donkey with gold and let it roam freely, with the intent of building a castle wherever it chose to rest. Eventually it lay down under a holly tree, the very same which stands tall in the castle’s dungeon today! Beyond the castle stands its gardens; a horticultural delight, with vibrant blooms and serene landscapes that are a favourite when visiting the Scottish Highlands.
Built as a private fortress and connect to Shakespeare's great Scottish play, Cawdor Castle has been the Cawdor family home for over 600 years. Dream Escape meets Lady Cawdor, who –together with her late husband and team – has lovingly conserved the building and gardens, set in the stunning Scottish Highlands.
Words | Amy Bonifas
