Glamis Castle designed landscape dates from the late 17th century and is outstanding in almost every value category. It has rich historical associations with the late Queen Mother's family and Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Artistic Interest

Level of interest

Outstanding

The layout of the park and gardens at Glamis have been accorded outstanding value as a Work of Art in the past and the present.

Historical

Level of interest

Outstanding

The long associations with the Bowes Lyon family, and the documentary evidence of its historical development together with its association with the Queen Mother and Shakespeare's Macbeth, give Glamis outstanding Historical value.

Horticultural

Level of interest

Outstanding

The variety and size of the pinetum and other woods planted by the 13th Earl provides outstanding Horticultural value.

Architectural

Level of interest

Outstanding

The Castle is listed grade A and the variety of other interesting architectural features gives it outstanding value.

Archaeological

Level of interest

Not Assessed

Scenic

Level of interest

Outstanding

Glamis makes a major contribution to the surrounding scenery.

Nature Conservation

Level of interest

High

The lakeland habitats in the north park and the age of some of the woodlands, give it high value in this category.

Glamis is situated about 12 miles (19.5km) north of Dundee in the broad vale of Strathmore. The Dean Water is canalised through the policies up to and past the Castle. Glamis Village lies at the junction of the A94 to Forfar, 5 miles (8km) to the east, and the A928 running along the west boundary of the park north to Kirriemuir, 4 miles (6.5km) away. The land slopes gently north from the Sidlaw Hills in the south to the Castle and the Dean Water. Strathmore is a fertile area and the soil is a rich loam, with much sand. However the short summer growing season does constrain the type and variety of plants that can be grown. There are magnificent views to the surrounding area from the parks and particularly from the roof of the Castle, the Grampian Mountains forming a magnificent backdrop to the north. The policy woodlands are particularly significant to the designed setting of the Castle. Views into the parks from the surrounding roads are limited by the woods and the high policy walls which form a significant scenic feature in themselves. The Castle is visible from the A928 to the west, and the farmed parks to the east are visible from the A94.

The Castle is set in the low plain of the Dean Water, unusual for such an old stronghold as Glamis. Tradition holds that attempts to build on higher land were foiled by the fairies who threw down the stones as soon as they were put up. However, the Castle was originally defended by a system of moats. By 1746 when Thomas Winter drew his plan of the Mains of Glamis 'as presently laid out', the designed landscape extended from north of the Dean Water to the north of the Castle to Crams Hill, Hunters Hill and Lera Park in the south. These hills were planted up with woodlands with a formal design of radiating avenues within. The main focus of the design was the straight approach road lined with a broad avenue which extended from the south woodlands north to the Castle. The parks around the Castle were enclosed in a diamond pattern, and a shrubbery area with serpentine walks lay to the south-east of the Castle. General Roy's plan of 1750 shows the same layout.

By 1860 and the 1st edition OS map, the railway had cut through the estate to the north of the Dean Water and the area south of the railway was shown enclosed as parkland with marshy areas and clumps of trees. The formal lines of the 1750s' plantings had disappeared, to be replaced by more fashionable, picturesque curves and with many individual trees in the parks. The extent of the designed landscape remains similar today although the woodland plantations to the south of the village of Glamis are regarded as outwith the policies and are planted commercially; they are recognised as significant features in the design and important to the views from the Castle. There are 1,080 acres (437ha) in the designed landscape today.

There are several fine estate plans kept at the Castle including the 1746 plan by Winter, the 1764 design plan, the 1768 plans by Abercrombie and the 1810 map by Blackadder.

The original stronghold was built in the 10th or 11th century, and was added to in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Prior to 1372 the estate was used as a Royal Hunting Lodge but was granted in that year by Robert II to John Lyon who had married the King's daughter, Dame Joanna. Their grandson, Patrick, was created Lord Glamis in 1445. The 6th Laird, John, married Janet Douglas who was burned at Edinburgh on a trumped-up charge of conspiring against James V. James V lived at Glamis for some four years after this and left the Castle impoverished on his departure. The estates were recovered by the 7th Laird in 1543 and were handed down through the family to the 9th Laird, Patrick, created 1st Earl of Kinghorne in 1606. He started work on the modernisation of the Castle but it was left to his grandson Patrick, the 3rd Earl, who succeeded in 1646, to complete the improvements. It is not known whether the final design was that of Inigo Jones or not.

When the 3rd Earl succeeded, it was to an enormous debt of #400,000 and to a Castle which was uninhabitable. He not only repaired the family fortunes, but improved the grounds and modernised the Castle. The 3rd Earl's garden is reputed to be one of the great four Baroque gardens in Scotland. In 1688 the 3rd Earl obtained a charter for the titles of Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Viscount Lyon, and Baron Glamis.

The 4th Earl, John, had four sons who all succeeded to the earldom in turn, and in fairly rapid succession. In 1735 the 8th Earl, Thomas, the last of his sons, succeeded and commissioned Thomas Winter to produce the 'Plan of the Mains of Glamis containing all the Parks, and Meadows and Plantations, Courts and Gardens as presently laid out'; apart from the woodlands and avenue described above, this plan also shows a formal garden layout to the north of the Castle and up to the river. Winter added to his plan a revised formal design for the courts and north garden, and he also put in a beech avenue. Roy's plan of 1750 shows the layout as substantially the same as the more detailed Winter survey. The 8th Earl died in 1753 and was succeeded by his son John as 9th Earl. John married an heiress, Mary Eleanor Bowes, and the family name was changed to Bowes Lyon. Around 1764, the 9th Earl consulted Robert Robinson about draining the Forfar Loch (to the east of Glamis near

Forfar town), and Robinson is reported to have visited Glamis in 1764. An improvement plan for the estate in the picturesque style was drawn up in that year. It is untitled, unsigned and unfinished and has been attributed to Robinson as containing his theories of landscape design. However, the style, script and artwork are similar to that of Thomas White Snr, in which case it would be one of his earliest known works in Scotland.

The plan was not carried out and the 9th Earl later commissioned James Abercrombie to work on the estate from 1766-1771, initially as a surveyor, and for agricultural improvements such as draining and planting. Abercrombie apparently worked well with the gardener of this time, George Baillie, and a shrubbery was put in near the house. Abercrombie also drew up two proposals for the improvement of the policies in an informal style in 1768, at the same time making a plea for the gates and walls to be retained in the front of the Castle. His plans show a picturesque design on the same lines as the 1764 plan with the removal of all the formal areas of planting including the avenue, and with the construction of two connected lochs to the south of the Castle. A kitchen garden is shown north of the Castle, and there is evidence from later survey plans to show that some of these proposals were implemented. However, Abercrombie's plans to save the court walls failed and these were demolished in 1774. The gates however were saved and moved to the perimeter of the policies to form the gate lodges in the policy wall. Of the three gateways shown in the late 17th century portrait of the 3rd Earl, the outer gates were moved to the south-east entrance or Church Lodge, the middle or De'il Gates were moved to the South Lodge, and the inner, Gladiator Gates, to the North Lodge.

The main approach avenue, described by Winter as an approach of 'ten hundred feet wide and a strip of planting of the same breadth on either side', was also cut down at this time. The poet Thomas Gray had described it in 1765: 'You descend to the Castle gradually from the south, through a double and triple avenue of Scotch Firs, 60 or 70 feet high, under three gateways. This approach is a full mile long, and when you have passed the second gate, the firs change to limes, and another oblique avenue goes off on either hand towards the offices; these as well as all the enclosures that surround the house, are bordered with three or four ranks of sycamore, ashes, and white poplars of the noblest height, and from 70 to 100 years old. Other alleys there are that go off at right angles with long ones, small groves and walled gardens of Earl Patrick's planting, full of broad-leaved elms, oak, birch, black cherry trees, laburnums, etc, all of great stature and size,' and its loss was mourned by Walter Scott, among others. The 2,700 acre parks were informalised, and the offices removed from their site adjacent to the doocot, which was left as a feature in the park.

The 9th Earl died in 1776, and was succeeded by his son John, 10th Earl, who commissioned the surveyor Blackadder to draw up a plan of the estate in 1810. This shows the park without its central avenue and with a rectangular pond to the east of the House. However the avenue must have been replanted shortly after this plan was drawn up as the present trees date from this period, and it is shown as mature by the 1860 1st edition OS map of the estate. The 10th and 11th Earls were both renowned agricultural improvers, enclosing all the farms on the estate, draining, fencing, building, reclaiming land and making roads. Many of the farm buildings date from this period. In 1865 the 13th Earl, Claude, succeeded, and Fowler of Castle Kennedy was brought in to design the five acre walled garden to the north of the Castle. The Pinetum was planted by the 13th Earl in the shrubbery to the north of the Castle, and in 1891 a new formal Dutch garden was put in to the south of the Castle.

The area of formal garden was extended in 1907 with the creation of the Autumn Garden to the east of the Castle by Cecilia, the 14th Countess, mother of H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who spent her childhood at Glamis. The 14th Earl died in 1944 and his grandson Fergus is the present and 17th Earl.

Architectural Features

The Castle is based on an old tower house with additions and improvements from 1606,1620,1690,1811,1849 and 1891. It is a five-storey L-plan building with two and three storey wings, and pepper pot turrets. It is listed A. All that remains in situ of the former court walls are the East and West Towers, listed B and thought to be 14th or 15th century. The Great Sundial brought in by the 3rd Earl between 1671-89 is 21' high, very ornamental, and is listed A. The Lead Statues of Charles I and James VI, discovered some years ago in a basement, have been reinstated in front of the Castle and are listed B. The Gladiator Gates, De'il Gates, and Church Lodge Gates are all listed B, and are late 17th century in origin, moved to their present position in the 1770s with 18th century screens. The Doocot is of 17th century lectern-type and was formerly attached to the offices; it has 750 nesting-boxes and is listed B. Earl John's Bridge on the north drive is dated 1697 and listed B. The North Bridge is dated 1866, (engineers, Blackadder) and is listed B. The East Bridge is listed C(S). The Ice House on the east drive is listed C(S). There are other features of architectural interest in the park including the Garden Cottage and Walled Garden with its three sets of huge wrought-iron gates, and the Statue of Mercury in the Dutch Garden. Glamis Village was built as an estate village to the south of the policies. The ha-ha walls c.1770 are part of the modified version of Abercrombie's plan of 1768.

Parkland

The parklands at Glamis contain many fine individual parkland trees of a variety of deciduous species: oak, lime, ash and beech, many dating from the laying out of the parks in the late 18th century. Comparison of the site today with the 1st edition OS map shows that more parkland trees have been added since 1860, and today they present a magnificent parkland scene. The south drive extends from Glamis Village up the long avenue as in former days, but with oaks, ash, horse chestnut and sycamore species in the avenue planting. The East Drive is still present along its former course but is now used mainly as an estate track. The fields to the east of the policy woodlands have also been planted with parkland trees in the past but they are now in agricultural use, as in the 1860s. To the north of the Dean Water is an area extending to Claypotts Wood, formerly called the Back Park Wood or Cossans Wood. This is an area of older birch woodland which has been separated from the main part of the policies since the railway was built. The land here is marshy, and in the 1930s a pond was made by Captain Michael Bowes Lyon, known as The Captain's Pond. This area is treated very much as a nature and wildfowl reserve and is not open to the public.

Woodland

There was much forestry planting in the 17th & 18th centuries at Glamis. The areas of woodland remain similar in size to those shown on the 1st edition OS map. Some areas have been felled and were completely replanted during the last war, eg Crams Wood and parts of Hunters Hill Wood, but the estate policy is to selectively fell and replace, retaining a mixed age range and a mixed species range, so that the amenity and shelter value of the woodlands is preserved. The woods are also managed for game-cover and for commercial purposes, and there is an estate sawmill.

The Gardens

Adjacent to the south-east front of the Castle is the formal sunken garden created by the 13th Earl and known as the Dutch Garden. It is a secluded, private garden with walls in the style of those at Edzell, and dated 1891 and 1893. A central feature is the Statue of Mercury in a pond which stands amid a formal display of box-edged beds filled with roses and annuals.

This was designed by Cecilia, wife of the 14th Earl, and was put in to the east of the Castle. The work involved felling and levelling about four acres of the Shrubbery between 1907-10. An inscription in the garden records the names of the local people who were involved in making the garden. The Countess recorded in the Gardener's Year Book that she designed the garden on the lines of the old French gardens, completely enclosed by clipped yew hedges. The large central parterre is shaped like a fan and radiates from the steps up to the terrace and was originally planted up in different colours to resemble a rainbow. The garden features two magnificent pleached beech alleys providing diagonal vistas between the formal beds and box-edged parterres infilled with gravel. A fountain, a seat and two gazebos are features in the garden. A new wrought-iron gate was designed in 1980 for the 80th birthday of the Queen Mother and was made up by a local blacksmith, George Sturrock. ^^ From the Autumn Garden a Yew Walk leads westward to the Dutch Garden and the Castle, and to the lawns in front of the Castle where the statues, sundial and some old yews stand.

Walled Gardens

The five acre walled garden was constructed in 1865 by Mr Fowler from Castle Kennedy. It was kept up as a vegetable, fruit and flower garden until the 1970s, when it was let for commercial market gardening.

Arboretum

A new Gingko and Larch Avenue leads from the north-east side of the Castle north toward the walled garden and the pinetum. This area up to the river was planted as a shrubbery in the late 18th century and part of it was laid out by James Abercrombie and George Baillie. The pinetum was started in the mid-19th century by the 13th Earl and, in 1981, Alan Mitchell measured and listed over 130 specimen trees in this garden, one of his largest lists for a collection in Scotland. A nature trail with numbered posts winds through the area, underplanted with Rhododendrons and laurel, along the riverbank and back towards the east side of the Castle.

Sources

Printed Sources

The Gardener's Year Book 1928, Philip Allan & Co. Ch. 2

CL Jan 27th 1923; Aug 8th 1916; May 9th 1947

CL Oct 27th 1950; May 16th 1947; Sept 18th 1897; 8th Dec 1965

Guidebook

Glamis Castle by Rev John Stilton, 1938

Estate Plans at Glamis Castle

S. Forman, 1967

SF, Dec 1965

G.A. Little, 1981

Groome's