Castle Leod

About this place

Castle Leod stands near Strathpeffer in Highland, seat of Clan Mackenzie for more than five hundred years.

The Category A listed castle remains a family home, currently that of John Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie.

The castle is widely cited as the inspiration for Castle Leoch in the Outlander novels and television series.

The castle and grounds open to the public for at least 25 days each year, with private guided tours also available.

History

Earlier settlements on the site are thought to predate the Mackenzie clan itself, with Pictish and Norse occupation recorded before the family made it their seat. The 3rd Earl of Cromartie was condemned to death in the Tower of London for his role in the Jacobite Rising of 1745, and his wife Isabella, known as Bonnie Bell, is said to have travelled south while pregnant to plead for his life and win his reprieve. An earlier ancestor, remembered as the Tutor of Kintail, is linked to a harsher chapter of the family's rule over Highland justice.

Architecture

Castle Leod is a Category A listed tower house, developed and altered over centuries by the Mackenzie family rather than built to a single architect's plan.

Worth knowing

The castle is widely cited as the model for Castle Leoch in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander novels and the television adaptation, a link the family and estate now openly embrace. Anne Hay Mackenzie, Countess of Cromartie, served as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria and did much to establish nearby Strathpeffer as a Victorian spa town.

Gardens & grounds

The grounds, listed in Scotland's Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, hold Scotland's oldest recorded Spanish Chestnut, planted in 1556, and Britain's largest Giant Sequoia.