Exploring Aberdour Castle and Its Surroundings
Key Highlights :
Aberdour Castle in Aberdour, Fife, KY3 0SL is a 12th century castle with expansive views across the Firth of Forth towards the Lothians. The castle is a mark of status, having been built with the money and manpower required to create a flat garden on a site as steeply-sloping as this one. Today, smooth lawns cover the ground, providing a sense of tranquillity for the visitors who come to explore the castle and its surroundings.
The castle grounds have been explored extensively by archaeologists, who have discovered evidence of a millpond on the Dour Burn, as well as the outline of a vegetable plot. These ghosts of earlier gardens show how the use of the space has changed over the centuries and are a reminder that self-sufficiency in mediaeval times could mean providing for defensive needs as well as growing kale and leeks.
Aberdour Castle also has a walled garden which is filled with colour even late in the season. Climbers and colourful perennials are joined by shrubs including cotoneaster and viburnum, which provide colour, form and berries even in winter. The space is also home to a productive vegetable garden and to an orchard of Scottish apples which are still covered with this year’s crop, with more than 18 different varieties grown here. Many of the herbs grown across the garden are cultivated for their aromatherapy properties, including camomile, lemon balm, catmint, rosemary, lavender and Jerusalem sage.
From Saturday, October 7 until Sunday, October 29, Aberdour will be hosting The Potion-Maker’s Quest, a family trail around some of the most useful and interesting plants in the garden, with a prize at the end. Aberdour Castle is open throughout the year, and tickets are priced at £6.50/£4.50/under-16s free.
Ancient Sites Historic and Environment Scotland (HES) are responsible for some of the most ancient sites in the country, from standing stones and chambered cairns to brochs and castles. Included amongst these are a number of long-established gardens, often surrounding religious settlements or palaces. At Elcho Castle, HES cares for an orchard of traditional apples, with varieties including Tower of Glamis and Galloway Pippin. Dryburgh Abbey in the Borders has one of the oldest yew trees in Scotland, as well as a succession of flowers that starts in early spring with snowdrops and daffodils, continues in summer with a meadow and wildflowers and bows out in a blaze of colour in autumn when the trees along the River Tweed take on bright hues. Dirleton Castle in East Lothian has topiary yews and a beautiful Arts and Crafts garden that was developed in the 1920s and still delights visitors today. The gardens are also home to the world’s longest herbaceous border, which is filled with flowers until late autumn. Meanwhile, the ruined walls of Edzell Castle near Brechin overlook a highly-stylised 17th-century walled garden, with heraldic sculptures and panels.
Aberdour Castle sits on the A921, five miles east of the Ferrytoll interchange with the M90. Because of the age of HES sites, access restrictions may be in place. There is reasonable wheelchair access to the site. Check with the property before visiting. Aberdour Castle is open daily 9.30am to 5.30pm until 1 October, when it opens Saturday-Wednesday, 10am-4pm. For more information, contact marketing@hes-scot or visit www.historicenvironment.scot/aberdour-castle.
