The History of Crathes Castle Gardens

Crathes has everything. Fairytale turrets, picturesque walls, a Robert the Bruce connection, and a famous walled garden created by Sir James and Lady Sybil Burnett in the 1920s. Now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, Crathes is as much a magnet for garden lovers as it is for castle enthusiasts.

In 1323, Robert the Bruce chose Alexander Burnett as the Royal Forester of Drum and presented him with The Horn of Leys, which is still on display in the castle. Two centuries later, the Burnett of Leys Clan were important enough to build themselves a castle, started in 1553 during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots, and finished some 40 years later.

Crathes Castle is a well-defended tower house built in an L-shape. This 16th century stronghold has fine painted ceilings and a Long Gallery - used for exercise on wet days. A wing added in the 18th century burnt down in the 1966.

Layers of History
A late 18th-century estate map shows Crathes Castle Gardens as two spaces - each divided into four, making eight compartments - a layout that still remains today. Some of the clipped yew and topiary goes back to 1700 and there were certainly mature specimens here in 1810, when visitors recall them clipped into chair shapes and pyramids. When the renowned plantswoman Gertrude Jekyll visited in 1895 she found well-planted borders and remarked on their 'brilliancy of colour'.

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