Huntingtower Castle is located beside Perth in the village of Huntingtower. The Scottish city that is arguably the gateway to the highlands. This little gem of a castle has some rather interesting historical stories and is often missed out by tourists. Which does mean it tends to be fairly quiet! Small, but full of interest you can easily spend a couple of hours here and take a picnic to eat on the benches outside.
It’s only an hour and a half from Edinburgh or an hour and a quarter from Glasgow. Huntingtower is really easy to get to by car, just off the A9 on the outskirts of the city. Although getting here by public transport is a little more tricky.
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History of Huntingtower Castle
Huntingtower Castle was once known as Ruthven Castle of Place of Ruthven. This changed when the Ruthven family moved out of the castle. Although Huntingtower now looks like one unified castle, it originally was composed of two separate tower houses and has some rather interesting history!
The first part of Huntingtower Castle was built in the 15th Century as two separate town houses. The reason for this is unknown, but there was also a great hall and other buildings surrounding a courtyard behind the towers. A defensive stone wall was also built around the entire complex. Later, in the 1600’s the western tower and eastern tower were linked by a stone built building. So it looked more like a typical country mansion of the time. The two towers later had an internal wooden bridge connecting the towers, possibly this was a defensive requirement. Allowing the inhabitants to keep one tower safe, even if the other tower was compromised.
Various frescoes and a painted ceiling still survive from this time. The best remains of mural paintings are in the East tower. You can spot animals, flowers and biblical images on the walls and a decorative pattern on the painted wooden ceiling.
The view from the top of the towers is well worth a look, you can enter both ramparts, each accessed by a spiral staircase from the respective tower.
Ruthven Family
Although the Ruthven family settled in Perthshire in the 1100’s, it unsure where they lived before the castle was built in 1400’s. In the late 1400’s the 2 sons of William 1st Lord of Ruthven were granted letters of legitimation. Which is possible why there were two separate towers built on the grounds.
Mary Queen of Scots visited the castle in 1565, staying for a few months on honeymoon with Lord Darnley.
It was in 1581 that King James VI made the 4th Lord Ruthven the Earl of Gowrie. Unfortunately for young James, King of Scotland, he was then held against his will for 10 months by the 1st Earl during the Ruthven Raid at the House of Ruthven. The king did forgive the 1st earl for this, but later in the 17th century when the 3rd Earl of Gowrie was instigated in the Gowrie conspiracy King James alleged that they attempted to assassinate him. In return the earl was executed and his family forfeited the estates, with the name of Ruthven. The family of Murray of Tullibardine (who the Dukes of Atholl were descended) were given the tower house and renamed it Huntingtower. John Murray and his wife Lady Mary lived in Huntingtower during the 1700’s, They later abandoned the tower when Lady Mary died.
Ruthven Legends
An interesting tale involving the daughter of the 1st Earl of Gowrie, Dorothea, is also worth mentioning. The young woman was meeting her lover in the guest rooms of one tower. However, her mother was suspicious of her daughters intentions and called her daughter, trying to catch her in the act. Dorothea heard her mother coming and rushed to the top of the tower where she leapt across the 3m gap to the second tower. She safely ran down the steps to her bedroom, where her mother found her. The gap is now called the maiden’s leap, and although another building is between the towers, you can still imagine how hard it must be to jump that distance!
Later Use
Huntingtower castle was neglected in the late 1700’s and the Murray family moved out. From this time it was the place of residence for farm labourers and local cloth makers. The last inhabitants were the family of Niel Cowan, the castle custodian. They left the castle in 2002, leaving it to state care. The custodian apartment has now been removed, leaving the castle as it was originally.
How To Get To Huntingtower Castle
Huntingtower Castle is owned by Historic Environment Scotland. If you are visiting several Historic Scotland properties it’s worth buying membership or an explorers pass if you are not a UK resident.
Getting to the castle is easy, you simply access it from off the A9 bypass around Perth, with the turn off to the castle just off the A85.
The nearest bus stop is East Huntingtower, at the bottom of Castle Brae, just a 5 minute walk to the castle. Take bus number 15 from Perth bus station, you can see the timetable here.
Car Parking
Access by car is easy, however the car park is VERY narrow. You need to first drive up to the turning circle outside the visitor centre and then drive back down to park at an angle in the car park. There only a few spaces, so be prepared to park elsewhere if it’s full.
Make A Day Of It – Other Nearby Places To Visit
If you would like to make a day of visiting Perth, then there are plenty of other places to see nearby! In the summer time you may like to visit Gloagburn sunflower trail, a maze inside a giant sunflower crop. You can also cut the sunflowers to take home with you too. This is only accessible by car and is around 15 minutes from Perth.
In Perth itself is the newly refurbished Perth Museum, complete with the Stone of Destiny (Free to enter). The Fair Maid’s House, run by the Geographical Society. The Black Watch Castle and Museum is beside North Inch Park. Or just outside Perth is Scone Palace.
If you have some more time then you could also visit the town of Pitlochry North of Perth, or even Aviemore if you are heading toward Inverness.
Scottish castles you may want to visit:
- Huntingtower Castle in Perthshire with it’s ‘maiden’s leap’ legend.
- Stirling Castle is a fun family day out, with excellent re-enactors.
- Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven is an impressive cliff top fortress.
- Craigmillar Castle is Edinburgh’s second castle and well worth exploring.
- Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull has great history and excellent views.
- Visit Tantallon in East Lothian for a dramatic view to Bass rock.
- Edinburgh castle is great to explore during the day, with the Scottish Honours on show too.
- Edinburgh Castle of Light is all lit up in the winter months!
- Crathes Castle and Gardens in Aberdeenshire is stunning.
- The strange shape of Blackness castle is almost ship like as a fortress.
- High up above Dollar is Castle Campbell, a fantastic lookout castle.
- Brodick Castle on Arran is popular with visitors, it’s more of a mansion house than castle.
- Inchcolm Abbey and Island in the Firth of Forth, day trip from Edinburgh Queensferry.
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