Castle Campbell Everyone is awestruck by Castle Campbell. The imposing ruin stands in solemn isolation upon a narrow ridge, overlooked by a crescent of the Ochil Hills. Two precipitous ravines hem it on either side, through which thunder the Burn of Care and the Burn of Sorrow. The setting couldn’t be more dramatic.

The oldest part of the stone castle was built in the early 15th century. At that time it was called ‘Castle Glume’. Around 1465 it passed through marriage to Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll. This powerful Highland chief needed a secure but impressive Lowland seat at the heart of the realm, within easy reach of the main centres of the royal court. Castle Glume fitted the bill perfectly. In 1489, the earl changed the name to Castle Campbell. And there the Campbells stayed for the next 200 years, until they tired of all those steps and relocated to Argyll’s Lodging, a fine townhouse beside Stirling Castle.