Not much is known about the early history of the walled gardens at Castle Menzies. Timothy Pont’s map of the Tay Valley drawn in c.1595 shows the castle, with a formal garden attached to the east side of the building, with four rectangles divided by a parterre and what may be a rustic wooden fence surrounding part of it. To the north and east of the castle were woodlands and orchards.

Receipts and invoices for garden equipment begin to show up from the early 1700s onwards. The most interesting is one dating to 1735 with an order for some 45 different varieties of seeds and vegetable plants. It includes several varieties of beans, onions and green leafy vegetables, plus root vegetables such as turnips. However, we have no evidence as to where the garden was situated – judging by the list it must have been quite large.  Most likely it was still attached to the east side of the castle, as drawn by Pont more than a century earlier.

During the 1745 Rebellion troops were billeted in the castle and a wall of the garden was knocked down to allow them a better view. Some time later the 3^rd baronet, noted garden and arborealist Sir Robert Menzies, claimed and was awarded the enormous sum of £12,000 for damages to the garden caused by the troops, including the loss of a fruit crop growing on the wall (valued at only £30 by the gardener!).   

A painting of the castle in 1748 shows landscaped grounds, with no kitchen garden in view, so presumably by this time it had been moved. From this period onwards kitchen gardens tended to be moved away from dwelling places because the use of fresh animal manure to produce the heat needed for the cultivation of such luxuries as melons created a smell in the summer temperatures.

A list from 1761 of purchases for the gardens by Sir Robert Menzies includes several varieties of single and double roses, possibly for a rose garden near the castle.  Sir Robert planted large areas of moorland with Scots pine, oak and ash, and Castle Menzies estate was especially famous throughout Britain for its gean trees [wild cherries], which even became the subject of a popular song! Picturesque paths ran through the woods, and a summer house, called Rock House, was built high on the hillside to the north-east of the castle.

In 1790 a new walled garden was built to the east of the castle, a little south of the present walled garden. The drainage ditches put in for this garden can still be seen in the fields beside the castle; the necessity for them suggests the land was wet and that the garden had to be protected from the possibility of floods. Stock for the garden was purchased not only from Perth and Edinburgh but also from London – inevitably, some plants didn’t survive the long journey.

Building work continued around the castle into the 1800s, with a large pond and bowling green already established, along with glasshouses, and kennels built in 1803.  The present walled garden is referred to in a letter of 1838, naming it as a ‘new’ walled garden commissioned by Lady Grace Menzies, the wife of Sir Neil, the 6^th baronet. A sketch plan of the garden shows grass walks, espalier fruit trees and flower borders. A list of the fruit trees ordered for the garden includes 45 apples, pears and peaches, with apple varieties such as Ribston’s Pippins and Codlings among them.

After the estate was sold in 1918 the walled garden was used as a market garden in the inter-war years and, during WWII when Polish troops were based at the castle, they grew vegetables. In 1957 the Menzies Clan Society bought the castle, and in 1984 the Society acquired the walled gardens which, by this time due to years of neglect, had become an overgrown wilderness.

Trying to restore the garden proved a formidable task, given limited resources and the fact that most members of the Society did not live in the area, but in the early 1990s the gardens were selected to receive some help and advice from the experts on the popular BBC Scotland TV programme The Beechgrove Garden.

Gradually the area was cleared and lawns and borders laid out, and it was as a result of their suggestion that the top terrace was turned into an arboretum commemorating the famous local-born botanist and explorer Archibald Menzies (1754-1842) who had worked in the gardens of the castle as a youth, where his father was head gardener. Species of trees discovered by him, including monkey puzzles and a pacific madrone, were planted.

A grant from the Countryside Commission enabled the central stone staircase to be repaired. Work continues today, when funds allow, to maintain the walled gardens, which are free for the public to visit, although care needs to be taken on the uneven steep stairs. 

For information on the individual Heritage Trail locations, click on these links:

00: A brief history of the Churches in the Aberfeldy area; 01: The Square; 02: Aberfeldy Town Hall;

03: Former St. Andrew’s Church; 04: Birks of Aberfeldy; 05: Moness House; 06: Aberfeldy Hospitals;

07: Former Wee Free Chapel; 08: Independent Chapel; 09: The Watermill; 10: Parish Church;

11: Breadalbane Academy; 12: St. Margaret’s Church; 13: Black Watch memorial; 14: Aberfeldy Golf Club;

15: Wade’s Bridge; 16: Weem Parish Church; 17: Menzies Mausoleum; 18a Castle Menzies;

18b Castle Menzies Walled Garden; 19: Our Lady of Mercy’s RC Church; 20: Aberfeldy Branch Line.