Gardens
in Ayrshire.

It’s 20:57 in Ayrshire.

Ayrshire

Culzean's Swan Pond and walled gardens.

Ayrshire's gardens belong to its great houses. At Culzean, the castle stands in a country park of woods, parkland and sandy shore with caves, and among some forty buildings and follies you'll find formal walled gardens, glasshouses, a deer park and the Swan Pond. Across the water on Arran, the gardens round the red sandstone castle above Brodick Bay hold a national collection of rhododendrons, a walled garden and a Bavarian summerhouse, with red squirrels in the woods. Both have miles of paths to wander, from the flower beds down to the sea. A day at Culzean goes by easily, so bring a picnic.

Did you know16 hours ago

The rare plants around Brodick Castle are there because a duchess bought shares in plant-hunting expeditions.

Lady Mary Louise Hamilton, 6th Duchess of Montrose, began clearing great swathes of the garden in 1923 to make room for something newsworthy. To get hold of rare rhododendrons and azaleas she took shares in the expeditions themselves, among them those of the collectors George Forrest and Frank Kingdon-Ward, and was paid in seed. Arran's mild, wet micro-climate and a shelterbelt planted back in the 1700s do the rest: this is one of the few places in Britain where plants that tender will survive outdoors at all. Three National Collections of rhododendrons grow here now.

See Brodick Castle, Garden and Country Park · Isle of Arran

Garden of the day12 hours ago

Brodick Castle, Garden and Country Park.

The red sandstone seat of the Dukes of Hamilton above Brodick Bay, with a national rhododendron collection, a walled garden and Britain's only island country park.

Read about it

Lunch7 hours ago

AyrshireThe Coo Shed8.5 miles

AyrshireThe Fox & Willow9.2 miles

AyrshireNarture Sourdough Bakery9.7 miles

Lunch near Culzean Castle.

The three good places closest to it: The Coo Shed, The Fox & Willow and Narture Sourdough Bakery.

See Culzean Castle

Ayrshire3 hours ago

After the Second World War, Culzean Castle kept a flat at the top of the house for General Eisenhower.

Culzean Castle was built between 1777 and 1792 on the cliffs above the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole in Ayrshire. After the Second World War an apartment at the top of the house was given to General Eisenhower. The National Trust for Scotland looks after the castle and the 240 acres of country park around it.

Find out more about Culzean Castle

Did you knowJust now

Brodick has the only island country park in Britain, and it runs from the seashore to the mountain top.

The castle is the ancient seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, standing where it does because the position over the Firth of Clyde made it a fortress worth holding; the building you see now was fashioned in 1844. The grounds around it run from the shore up to the summit, taking in formal gardens, woodland, waterfalls, bathing pools and ponds where red squirrels live, and there is nothing else like it on any island in the country.