Took a detour on our way home from Pitlochry. This is the church where the witch trail was filmed. As it had been a spur of a moment decision we couldn’t see inside. It was worth the trip to see around the grounds.
The second trip of the day was to Blackness Castle. It is called the ship that never sailed as it is built in the shape of a ship. The castle is situated on the shore of the river Forth.
It was even more windy here but we still manage to venture for a walk around the walls.
When visiting locations I like to think how they were used for filming. The courtyard in the castle is very rocky so it would have made for interesting transformation into the crowd scenes of the flogging.
Only Jamie and Claire made an appearance here. Again like Doune castle there were several visitors at Blackness Castle on a very windy day.
As I am still on holiday I decided it would be nice to revisit some of the Outlander locations. So on a wild windy January day I set forth with my husband to visit Doune Castle otherwise known as Castle Leoch in the series.
I took with me my POP figures of Jamie, Claire and Dougal.
This was my third visit to Doune Castle and my second Outlander inspired trip. We are Historic Scotland members. There is guide book, which I must have somewhere, and a free audio guide – worth using especially if it’s your first visit.
It was fun just to wander round and discover parts of the castle I had missed in pervious visits. On my previous visit I had ventured for a walk by the river but with all the rain there has been recently and the windy weather we opted to go back to the car.
My husband was surprised by the number of visitors there were. While we were there several small bus tours arrived. Don’t know if they were all Outlander fans! Doune Castle has been used for filming Game of Thrones and was used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (Not sure if the gift shop still sells coconut shells – they may have been replaced by the Outlander merchandise).
At the end of November with my friend Jan and our lovely husbands we went to Stirling Castle to listen to and meet Diana Gabaldon. This was an event as part of Scottish Book Week. Diana was with the historian and new novelist Neil Oliver.
After discussion and questions both authors signed their books. Diana had time for everyone who spoke to her.
Back in November I was away for the weekend with my husband to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. On the way back we visited Carlisle Castle which was used as Wentworth Prison. It was a very wet day so we didn’t spend too long in the castle, but I did discover a link to the 1745 uprising.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart takes the city and castle with 400 men. The Duke of Cumberland besieges the castle and the Jacobites surrender. Many are imprisoned and 31 are executed. Source – Carlisle Castle.
Last Friday I had a jaunt out with my husband to see Hopetoun House. This is located outside of South Queensferry, which is west of Edinburgh. We had visited part of the estate earlier in the summer to see Midhope Castle (Lallybroch).
The house was used as were the Duke of Sandringham was staying. They used the back of the house which shows off the original building very well. The red drawing room was used as well as the grounds for filming.
Hopetoun House is a country house near Queensferry, West Lothian, owned by the Hopetoun House Preservvation Trust. The south wing of the house is occupied by the Marquis of Linlithgow and his family as their family home.
The house was built 1699-1701 and designed by Sir William Bruce. The house was then hugely extended from 1721 by William Adam until his death in 1748. The interior was completed by his sons John Adam and Robert Adam. Ref – Hopetoun House
The Highland Folk Museum gives visitors a flavour of how Highland people lived and worked from the 1700s up until the 1960s! They do this by displaying over 30 historical buildings and furnishing them appropriate to their time period. Some have been built from scratch on site and some have been moved here from other locations.
The site is a mile long with the1700s Township (featuring 6 houses) at one end through to the 1930s working croft at the other.
Source – High life Highland
The scenes from the Mackenzie village were filmed in the 1700s township. When walking to that part of the Folk Museum I felt transported back. A great location and worth a visit especially as its free.
A blog post from National Trust for Scotland website. The photos are in their exhibition space at the mill. If you can spare some money to help with the upkeep please donate – see article for details.
Behind-the scenes-Outlander shots: Preston Mill’s close up!.
Today’s visit was to Falkland which in the series doubled as Inverness. We had lunch at Campbell’s Coffee Shop, outside is featured in the programme. It started to rain so we went around Falkland Palace – worth a visit if your in Falkland especially to see the gardens – check out my blog post about the Falkland Palace.
The sun came out and I was able to take some photos of where they filmed. We saw several marriage stones. A marriage stone is usually a stone lintel carved with the initials of a newly married couple with the date of the marriage. In the tv series these feature as being covered in cocks blood.
A few of the shops and cafes have a pocket Jamie fun to spot!
Preston Mill was used for the Mill at Lallybroch. Preston Mill is in the village of East Linton in East Lothian. It is a National Trust for Scotland property which is only open Thursday to Monday during the summer. It offers guided tours around the kiln and mill. Next to the shop there is a small exhibition which includes some photos from when Outlander filmed at this location.
A very picturesque place worth visiting.
My Outlander Adventure 