Cawdor Castle

Cawdor Castle
Cawdor Castle from the east
Coordinates57°31′27″N 3°55′35″W / 57.5243°N 3.9264°W / 57.5243; -3.9264
Listed Building – Category A
Designated26 January 1971
Reference no.LB1728
Designated1 July 1987
Reference no.GDL00099
Cawdor Castle is located in Highland
Cawdor Castle
Location in Highland council area

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 Calder family, it passed to the Campbells 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,[1] and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.[2]

  1. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "CAWDOR CASTLE (Category A Listed Building) (LB1728)". Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  2. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "CAWDOR CASTLE (GDL00099)". Retrieved 25 March 2019.