Castle Menzies

Castle Menzies is not one of the well known castles in Scotland and you might want to visit other castles first before you make your way to this tucked away beauty.
However, if you like castles in general and are of an exploring nature, then this is a nice castle to visit. You will need a car as the location is quite remote. I only found it by accident when driving through the Perthsire countrysite and surrounding area of Pitlochry.
The grounds are covered by wilderness and there are no fancy gardens to walk around. The property I believe is still privately owned or part of a trust. I payed £7 entry as far as I can remember. Children and Seniors pay a bit less.
It was build in the 16^th century by Clan Menzies and has been in their hands for over 400 years. One of the Menzies married the daughter of the Earl of Atholl and I can imagine that this enhanced their families prospects in the world of Nobility and Power struggles.
The lower floors served as the living and working quaters for the castle personell and the higher you climb (up the stairs) the warmer it gets (you must imagine this place is located in the middle of nowhere and subject to cold winds and other weather related forces of nature). From the outside the castles looks small, but you will notice that there are lots of floors and each floor has a long room and several other smaller rooms (hidden away from prying eyes) and tower rooms (which served the nobility as bedrooms). Some rooms are so small you might wonder how people fit in there or even shared this room with others. Personally I do not want to know about the general hygene during these times :-)
You might be interested that Bonny Prince Charlie (one of Scotlands pretender) stayed there for two nights whilst on his way to the famous battle of Culloden. You will even be able to see his «Death mask» in one of the upstairs rooms, besides others. There are leftover relics from previous centuries, like swords and papers, still kept in tact for the purpose of enticing young and old visitors with historic «know how». If you wonder what a death mask is, this is now your chance to see one «live» and explore.
I heard that they do weddings in the Victorian style build room and I also had a peak. This room is very nicely decorated and would suit any purpose that requires a romantic and idylic backgorund for over 30 guests. I think its called the Dewar room.
And after a long afternoon of wandering around the castle halls we stopped at the castle’s tea room on the ground floor. This is a very nice tea room decorated with old fashioned décor, good prices for coffee, tea and cakes. The food choices are minimal, but the quatlity of food/​snacks that they serve is very good. The staff is very friendly and helpful.
Enjoy!