Only a real estate agent would proclaim a half-dozen rooftop spaces atop a London apartment building to be ‘garden terraces.’ They total 2,000 square feet, along with a 9,000-square-foot interior, six-bedroom penthouse at Wellington Court in snazzy Knightsbridge. The rent will set you back no less than £50,000-a-week. This, notes The Mail on Sunday, breaks down to £7,142 per day or £297 per hour.
But for the same $50,000 you can spend a long weekend with a dozen friends at a castle fit for a queen, waited upon by 20 royal servants. And not a mere 2,000 square feet but acres of entrancing gardens await you.
The Castle of Mey, just 400 metres from the shore of the most northern tip of mainland Scotland, was purchased by the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1952. Now under the auspices of the Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust – of which Prince Charles is President – paying guests are to be offered the chance on two or three weekends each season to experience the historic castle and the incredible walled garden the Queen Mother created there.
The castle is situated on the north coast of Caithness, about 15 miles east of Thurso and six miles west of John O’Groats. It overlooks the Pentland Firth, the waters of which separate the mainland from the Orkney Islands. The weather can be challenging to say the least, buffeting winds at times changing to sweeping Arctic gales to threaten gardening attempts.
When she purchased the “dilapidated old place that was ripe for demolition, riddled as it was by the damp and the black peat smoke of centuries,” wrote Godfrey Talbot in The Country Life Book of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1983). The castle garden had been also abandoned. That was back in 1952 as she mourned the death of her husband, George VI.
It took years of attention to restore both to the splendour revealed today. However, the Queen Mother was both a knowledgeable plantswoman and gardener with an almost instinctive feel for design. So first with head gardener James Sinclair, later succeeded by Sandy Webster, she created today’s gardens. These would be outstanding anywhere but in the bleak, exposed situation they are located it is an extraordinary accomplishment.
The Great Wall of Mey, as it has been termed, extends west from the castle to offer the initial protection. The grounds so sheltered are divided for further protection by hedges of various hardy shrubs, within flourish flowers, fruits and vegetables. Against the Great Wall is a south-facing greenhouse as well as the Queen Mother’s beloved old-fashioned ‘Albertine’ rose – her favourite – still in its floriferous scented glory.
According to the Castle of Mey website, produce from the garden and greenhouse are used by HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay when he is staying in the castle. The Prince of Wales takes great interest in the development of his grandmother’s garden and the effects of the Caithness climate. The tearoom also uses the produce and any surplus is sold at the plant-stall outside the greenhouse together with an assortment of homegrown plants.
As with so many historical gardens, that of the Castle of Mey conceals the dark and dismal origins of what started out as a fortified granary. Built between 1566 and 1572 by the 4th Earl of Caithness for his second son William Sinclair. The latter enjoyed it but a year before being murdered by his elder brother John. Fratricide continued in true Shakespearean fashion as John was dispatched. The castle then went to the third son, George Sinclair who, surviving, succeeded to the Earldom in 1589.
On the opposite side of the castle are to be found the East Gardens, party surrounded by woods. Hardy fuchsia hedges again break the force of almost perpetual wind. Knowledgeable gardening visitors will delight in the section of woodland plants such as Primula, Meconopsis, Astilbe, Hellebores, Hostas, Ferns and Foxgloves while wending their way along inviting paths.
However, if a £50,000 weekend is a trifle over your budget – or you are not on the select list of approved paying guests – you can still experience the gardens and even a tearoom for a far more modest fee. The Castle and Gardens are open from 7th May to 30 September this year from 10:20 am to 4 pm., but closed 28th July to 9th August.
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
