The Castle & Gardens of Mey

With a rich and bloody history that involves aristocratic brothers locking one another up and fratricide, the Castle of Mey on the northern shores of Caithness in Scotland is a historic treasure to savour. The castle was built by the fourth Earl of Caithness in the 1500s and where once it was a grand estate for grand people, it fell into disrepair in the early 20th century. It was in 1952 when the Queen Mother was visiting the area that she came upon this sad building. Herself a new widow and the edifice matching her mood, she bought it and went about restoring the house and gardens into the glorious place you see today. Don't miss the lovely traditional Scottish walled garden with fruit and vegetables and herbaceous plants which includes the rose-strewn Shell Garden where her Majesty would sometimes sit in the sun with her corgis.