Drumlanrig Castle is situated on the Queensberry Estate in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

, Scotland. The

category A listed Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * Category ( ...

castle is the Dumfriesshire home of the

Duke of Buccleuch Duke of Buccleuch ( ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, and second ''suo jure'' for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Countess of ...

and Queensberry. As of September 2023, the castle itself is open to the public during very limited times of the year, with the surroundings, such as the stableyard and adventure playground being open nearly all year round. Walking, hiking, and cycling routes are open all year long, unless officially closed due to unforeseen circumstances, such as in 2021 due damage inflicted by Storm Arwen.

Construction

The 'Pink Palace' of Drumlanrig, constructed between 1679 and 1689 from distinctive pink

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, is an example of late 17th-century

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

. The first Duke of Queensberry, William Douglas, had the castle built on the site of an ancient Douglas stronghold overlooking the Nith Valley. The castle has 120 rooms, 17 turrets and four towers. In 1984, aerial photography revealed the outline of a substantial Roman fort some to the southeast of Drumlanrig Castle. The fort was partially excavated in 2004 by the ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4, Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television produce ...

'' television programme.

Gardens

A formal garden was created between 1675 and 1697 to the principles of the architect

Sir William Bruce Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet (c. 1630 – 1710), was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes.Colvin, p.172–176 As a key figure in introducing the Pa ...

and appear to be similar to the garden plans for

Kinross House Kinross House is a late 17th-century country house overlooking Loch Leven, near Kinross in Kinross-shire, Scotland. History Construction of the house began in 1685, by the architect Sir William Bruce as his own home. It is regarded as one of hi ...

and Balcaskie. The gardens were enclosed by stone walls and included six stone pavilions each with lead ogee roofs matching the main building. Water features in the garden included a "clanging clock". In 1695 when the second duke inherited the estate he employed a James Wood son of Hew Wood of Hamilton as a gardener, and sent him to London in 1696 for further training. He failed to return and the duke instead employed a Dutch gardener named Cornelius van Nerven. In 1698 a summer house and water cascades were added. The third duke employed a David Low as gardener from 1714 to 1747. This period had the creation of more landscape features plus a bowling green (an early example of such). During this period Sir John Clerk of Penicuik designed the water cascades which were added 1728 to 1732. Following the death of David Low, the head gardener, in 1747, the number of gardeners was reduced to eight to ten men, and the new head gardener was paid less than Low. The gardens were allowed to be less maintained and by 1810 there was a decision made to remove the formal gardens.

Art collection

The castle is home to part of the Buccleuch art collection which includes

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

's '' An Old Woman Reading'', and

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

's '' Madonna of the Yarnwinder'', which was stolen in 2003 and returned in 2007 after being found in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and many other paintings, tapestries and objects of art. The ''Madonna of the Yarnwinder'' is currently on loan at the

Scottish National Gallery The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Play ...

Surrounding Attractions

The castle features attractions for both tourists and local residents, situated in the former stable yard, and in an off-section of the rear gardens. These include the Stableyard Studios with a range of local businesses, a tearoom and an adventure playground.

Etymology

The earliest record for Drumlanrig is from 1384, spelled ''Drumlangryg''. There are a number of possible etymologies for the name. It may represent

Cumbric Cumbric is an extinct Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North", in Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the ot ...

''drum'' 'ridge' + ''-lanerc'' 'small area of cleared woodland'. However, the first element may also be

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

''druim '''ridge', either added to a Cumbric name or to Scots ''*lang-rigg'' 'long ridge'.

Gallery

File:DrumlaningCastle.jpg, Drumlanrig Castle side on view looking at the right-hand side File:Castelodedrumlanrig.jpg, Drumlanrig Castle illustration in 1880 File:Drumlanrig plan.jpg, Original plan. The building extends 145 ft (44m) File:Drumlanrig elevation.jpg, Planned front entrance illustration File:Drumlanrig Castle Garden.jpg, Drumlanrig Castle side on view looking at the left-hand side File:Car Park at Drumlanrig Castle - geograph.org.uk - 5090940.jpg, Main/Front car park, looking down from Stableyard towards front gate to Castle itself, as well as road towards Adventure Playground File:The Stableyard Studios, Drumlanrig Castle - geograph.org.uk - 5091771.jpg, View inside the Stableyard, towards the rear, facing an exit as well as the general direction of the Castle

References

External links

* {{Castles in Dumfries and Galloway Castles in Dumfries and Galloway Country houses in Dumfries and Galloway Category A listed buildings in Dumfries and Galloway Listed castles in Scotland *Castle Drumlanrig Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes *Castle Drumlanrig Gardens in Dumfries and Galloway Historic house museums in Dumfries and Galloway Houses completed in 1691 Renaissance architecture in Scotland 1691 establishments in Scotland