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Cawdor Castle is a castle in the parish of Cawdor in Nairnshire, Scotland. It is built around a 15th-century tower house, with substantial additions in later centuries. Originally a property of the Clan Calder family, it passed to the Clan Campbell in the 16th century. It remains in Campbell ownership, and is now home to Angelika Campbell, Dowager Countess Cawdor, stepmother of Colin Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor.
The castle is best known for its literary connection to William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, in which the title character is made "Thane of Cawdor". However, the story is highly fictionalised, and the castle itself, which is never directly referred to in Macbeth, was built many years after the life of the 11th-century King Macbeth.
The castle is a category A listed building, and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.
The castle was expanded numerous times in the succeeding centuries. In 1510 the heiress of the Calders, Muriel, married Sir John Campbell of Muckairn, who set about extending the castle. Their children included Campbell, Katherine Campbell, Countess of Crawford. Further improvements were made by John Campbell, 3rd of Cawdor (c.1576 - c.1642), who purchased rich lands on Islay. By 1635 a garden had been added, and after the Restoration Sir Hugh Campbell of Cawdor added or improved the north and west ranges, employing the masons James and Robert Nicolson of Nairn.
In the 1680s Sir Alexander Campbell, son of Sir Hugh, became stranded in Milford Haven during a storm, where he met a local heiress, Elizabeth Lort of Stackpole Court. The two were married and afterwards the Campbells of Cawdor lived mainly on their estates in Pembrokeshire. Cawdor was home to younger brothers of the family who continued to manage the estates, building a walled flower garden in 1720, and establishing extensive woodlands in the later 18th century.
John Campbell of Cawdor, a Member of Parliament, married a daughter of the Earl of Carlisle in 1789, and was ennobled as Lord Cawdor in 1796. In 1827, his son was created Earl Cawdor. During the 19th century, Cawdor was used as a summer residence by the Earls. The architects Thomas Mackenzie and Alexander Ross were commissioned to add the southern and eastern ranges to enclose a courtyard, accessed by a drawbridge. In the 20th century John Campbell, 5th Earl Cawdor, moved permanently to Cawdor.
His second son James Campbell (1942–2019) was born here. John was succeeded by the 6th Earl, whose second wife, the Dowager Countess Angelika, born Countess Lažanský from Bohemia, Angelika Cawdor Lažanská Czech Television, 2017 television interview (overdubbed in Czech language). Retrieved 17 October 2025 lives there still. In 2001 it was reported that the Countess had prevented her stepson from sowing genetically modified rapeseed on the Cawdor estate, and in 2002 the Countess took the Earl to court after he moved into the castle while she was away.
Gardens
The castle is known for its gardens, which include the Walled Garden (originally planted in the 17th century), the Flower Garden (18th century), and the Wild Garden (added in the 1960s). In addition, the castle grounds include a wood featuring numerous species of trees (as well as over 100 species of lichen).
Shakespeare connection
The name of Cawdor still connects the castle to Shakespeare's play Macbeth. However, the story portrayed by Shakespeare takes extensive liberties with history. The historical King Macbeth ruled Scotland from 1040 to 1057, after his forces killed King Duncan I in battle near Elgin. Macbeth was never Thane of Cawdor, this being an invention of the 15th-century writer Hector Boece. Moreover, Cawdor Castle did not exist during the lifetimes of Macbeth or Duncan, and it is never explicitly mentioned in the play. The 5th Earl Cawdor is quoted as saying, "I wish the Bard had never written his damned play!"
External links
Categories: Castles In Highland, Category A Listed Buildings In Highland, Listed Castles In Scotland, Inventory Of Gardens And Designed Landscapes, Gardens In Highland, Historic House Museums In Highland, Country Houses In Highland, County Of Nairn, Tower Houses In Scotland, Museums Established In 1976
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