Drumoak - Drum Castle and Garden

Drum Castle, the third oldest tower house in Scotland, lies some 10mi/16km west of Aberdeen. The huge granite structure was commissioned in 1286 by the first mayor of Aberdeen Richard Cementarius. In 1386 Robert the Bruce granted his standard-bearer William de Irwyn rights to the royal wood at Drum - the land is now planted with a marvelous rose garden and an arboretum containing a number of rare trees. The castle stayed within the de Irwyn family until 1976 when it was adopted by the National Trust for Scotland. The fortified tower - for defensive reasons the walls reach a thickness of 13ft/4m at ground level and 10ft/3m higher up - has changed very little over the centuries. Only in 1619 after the Reformation did the ninth laird, Alexander Irvine, request the Aberdeen mason Bell to convert the keep into a Renaissance style mansion. This part is still largely untouched. In the oak-paneled Saloon, it is the portraits - by Raeburn, Reynolds and Graham Gilbert - and the view of "Castlegate in Aberdeen" by the Scot Hugh Irvine which deserve most attention. In the Dining Room, look out for a magnificent Chinese porcelain tray (18th century).