Mount Stuart

The former home of Mary Queen of Scots is located on the beautifully scenic Isle of Bute, a Scottish island situated a few miles from Glasgow, and accessible by ferry. Information on how to get there is available here.

Located 5 miles south of Rothesay, Mount Stuart contains many stories and treasures. Information on tours, times and ticket prices are available here, and booking is available on the website.

The visitor information centre gives you all of the information you need before heading out into the woodland. The leaflet we were given state that 300 acres of gorgeously green woodland and gardens make up the magnificent castle grounds. It states that these were planted by the second Earl of Bute (James Stuart), along with his son John Stuart in the 1700’s. His son also helped create Kew Gardens in London.

A short walk through the woodland leads to the glorious Kitchen Gardens. A pretty decent sized greenhouse full to the brim of miniature to giant plants and scenery. As the previous website states, the gardens were redeveloped by garden designer Rosemary Verey in the 1990’s. The gardens are definitely more than welcoming, and only get better upon entrance, with a range of exotic trees, flowers and plants on offer. There is some beautifully detailed plants, and some incredibly huge leaves which may even be bigger than you. There is also a pond right in the middle of it all with a group of content goldfish in it, which adds that little bit extra.

Once you have passed kitchen gardens, a few minutes down the route further down the route to the house is the pretty mysterious Beehive Well. The well itself was built in the 18th Century, and served a hamlet (a settlement smaller than a village) called Scoulag that was located around the shore area at the time. The beehive structure was not actually built on top of the well until the 19th Century, but the reason for why they built it in this style is not specified.

There is around a 15 minute walk further through the woodland before you reach the house. For the rest of the walk there are many other places to explore.

On the way you will pass the Limetree Avenue. If you fancy taking a de-tour and walking all the way down the avenue, it will take you to the coastline. Even more worth the visit on a sunny day.

When you arrive at the house, you will be greeted and given a sheet informing you of the history of each room. There are also tour guides in most of the rooms if you’re the inquisitive type.

The first room I paid a visit to was the Marble Chapel, which is still used today to hold weddings, celebrations and concerts. Stella McCartney, daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney chose Mount Stuart as her wedding destination.

The handout we were given on arrival details the fact that the Marble Chapel was one of the last areas of the house to be constructed. Additionally, a sheet available in the room highlighted the fact that the Chapel was was designed in 1896 by scottish architect Robert Rowand Anderson. The design combined elements of French, Spanish and Italian Gothic Architecture.

Coming back out into the large Marble Hall, you won’t miss the marble staircase. We learned a pretty decent fact about it too; the marble itself is fossilised limestone which contains 325 million year old fossils. Before venturing into the Purple Library, we just couldn’t help but venture up those magnificent stairs. The ceiling is also pretty great.

Our first destination upstairs was Lady Bute’s room, the sitting room of the 3rd Marquess’ wife. The 3rd Marquess was John Stuart, and his wife was Gwendolyn Fitzalan-Howard. According to the information provided, the Marquess was often away which led to a disagreement they had in 1884, where he decided to spend Christmas away from home.

The main bedroom was central between the two bathrooms and bedrooms. This room was the shared bedroom of the 3rd Marquess and Marchioness.

The horoscope room was originally the sitting room of 3rd Marquess. It was named the horoscope room because the ceiling depicted how the planets were aligned at the time he was born.

The last room upstairs available to the public was the conservatory, which at the time of the 3rd Marquess was used as an observatory, which reflected his love for astronomy, as we were told by a friendly guide and staff member. The Marquess was also very fond of the Dark Arts, and the events available around Halloween are definitely worth taking a look at.

The final rooms I had the pleasure of venturing into were the purple library and the dining room. The purple library contains numerous objects, books and artefacts – all surrounding Mary Queen of Scots. The exhibit which by far stood out to me the most was the letter declaring her execution, and a mock execution video was shown upon entrance to the room. Pretty gruesome, but thankfully they didn’t have video back then to record the real thing!

The last room we visited was the dining room, which as well as being used for some breathtakingly delicious dinners, it was the centre of all the types of dinner entertainment you could think of, enjoyed by the residents of Mount Stuart.

So, a house entailed stories of heartbreak, sorrow but also that of love, fulfilment, and family life, each room filled with the mysterious adventures of the past. The Gardens also left a trace of what the residents and their expert gardener had started – remaining intact to this day.

Mount Stuart is a highly significant party of Scotlands history, so if you’re ever in Bute – you know where to go!

Thank you for reading my post, apologies for the delay since my first post – life has taken some unexpected turns recently. Thank you for being patient, and my next post should be up soon!