Muchalls Castle - Policies and Estate

Policies and Estate

The castle is perched near the apex of a large knoll overlooking the North Sea with a forest policy (woodland surrounding a large estate) of very old sycamore, elm and beech trees forming the northern and eastern policy boundaries. These trees form a canopy attaining 50 metres in height, and are the domain of rookeries of crow and jackdaw. There is a population of several hundred of these birds, which are commonly associated with other Scottish castles; in fact, the current owners have purchased a tangent northern parcel, which is known on historic maps as "Crow Woods" and is a similar forest of mature trees that house crow and jackdaw flocks.

The southeastern, southern and western exposures have a thinner lower woodland policy, historically to allow free viewing of the North Sea and expansive valley views to the south and west. The principal gardens are situated in a series of declining terraces on the western side of the castle. These gardens were studied by a historical landscape architect in 2001 and determined to be the original early 17th century design, including enclosing dry-stone walls. Further evidence of the original design period is manifested by a subtle pattern in the western lawn nearest the castle, which has been documented to be undulations echoing an elaborate subsurface stonework pattern, a hallmark of the 17th century garden plan. On the southern lawn there is a rare species of tree known as the weeping elm. This specimen is one of the oldest in Scotland, measuring a height of 12 metres. There are a total of seven principal lawns summing to an area of 52,300 square feet (4,860 m2).

Further there are a total of five agricultural fields as part of the castle estate which are managed to accommodate cattle, sheep and crops of wheat, barley and hay. The castle is accessed via a private drive of about three quarters of a mile long, that runs across the castle estate. One of the most intriguing discoveries of the 1990s was a hewn slab about two metres wide that spans a creek running along the southern portion of the estate. This slab had not been recorded on any of the historic maps from the most recent 200 years, but is the exact width needed to accommodate a carriage. This discovery was used to support the theory espoused by the present owners that the original castle access was from the south and not the west as shown on maps of the last two centuries and resulted in securing council approval to reconstruct the ancient approach as the main access drive .