Dunrobin Castle

One mile north of Golspie is magnificent Dunrobin Castle, the largest house in the Highlands. Although it dates back to 1275, most of what you see today was built in French style between 1845 and 1850. One of the homes of the earls and dukes of Sutherland, it’s richly furnished and offers an intriguing insight into the aristocratic lifestyle.

This classic fairytale castle is adorned with towers and turrets, but only 22 of its 187 rooms are on display, with hunting trophies much to the fore. The exhibits also include innumerable gifts from farm tenants (probably grateful that they weren’t victims of the Clearances). The castle is reputedly haunted by the ghost of a green lady known as the Ell-maid of Dunstuffnage.

Beautiful formal gardens extend from the castle down to the sea, where impressive falconry displays take place two to three times a day. Also found in the gardens is the house's museum, which offers an eclectic mix of archaeological finds, natural-history exhibits, more non-PC animal remains and an excellent collection of Pictish stones found in Sutherland, including the fine pre-Christian Dunrobin Stone.

In spite of its beauty, Dunrobin inspires mixed feelings among local people; the castle was once the seat of the first duke of Sutherland, notorious for his part in some of the cruellest episodes of the Highland Clearances. The duke’s estate was once the largest privately owned area of land in Europe, covering 1.5 million acres, and around 15,000 people were evicted from their homes to make way for sheep.