Read the latest about what’s happening at Carlowrie Castle.

433-year-old goatskin manuscript gives a glimpse into Carlowrie’s fascinating history

Our team has recently revealed a remarkable piece of history related to Carlowrie Castle. While we always knew that Carlowrie Castle and the Carlowrie estate has a long and interesting history, we were blown away when an historian found an original title deed to the land dated 19 August 1591. 

The manuscript is hand-scribed onto traditional goatskin vellum and is written in Latin. From our research so far, we’ve discovered that it references several famous figures, including King James VI, who ruled over Scotland at the time and later went on to rule England as King James I. 

While more information is needed to understand the role this document has played in the history of Carlowrie, it has inspired us to delve deeper into the history of the land. We’re working with the National Library of Scotland and National Records of Scotland to uncover the unknown stories of the area.

It is believed that an earlier castle had once stood on the site of the present-day Carlowrie Castle, before falling into disrepair. It was Edinburgh-based wine merchant and Provost of Leith, Thomas Hutchison who, many years later, commissioned the building of the Carlowrie Castle we know today. From its completion in 1854 to 1982, the castle was home to the Hutchison family, including renowned Arctic explorer, botanist and author, Isobel Wylie Hutchison.

When you’re next visiting us at Carlowrie Castle, ask us about our history. We’d love to share it with you.

You can read more about our history here.

Barbecues, music, and community connection at our Picnic and Praise event

Every year during the warmer summer months we welcome our local community and parish church to Carlowrie Castle for a family-friendly day in the sunshine. Our Picnic and Praise event is an afternoon of inspiring talks and music, delicious food, children’s entertainment, and the opportunity to come together for prayers. 

At our fourth annual Picnic and Praise this August, we welcomed hundreds of members of our local community to join us for a fun-filled afternoon. We loved seeing familiar faces around the barbeque, enjoying the performances, and exploring the gardens. 

This year the event sponsored our charity The Breakfast Bothy, which provides hot meals, vital services, and connection to people experiencing homelessness in Edinburgh and which recently opened a charity shop. Our Picnic and Praise guests generously donated money, clothing, books, bric-a-brac and more. We sincerely thank all those who donated to our charity. Your donations go a long way in supporting people in need.

Spotlight on mental health at our Isobel Award ceremony

At our sixth annual Isobel Award ceremony we had the privilege of celebrating a wonderful charity that goes above and beyond to support children with their mental health.

That charity, and this year’s winner of The Isobel Award, is With Kids.

The Isobel Award honours the legacy of renowned botanist, explorer and author, Isobel Wylie Hutchison, who defied convention in the 1900s and chose a life of solo adventures, community giving, and endless wonder for the natural world. Carlowrie Castle was Isobel’s family home and the place she would return to after each of her adventures.

Each year Carlowrie Castle presents The Isobel Award to an individual or group who has overcome adversity and made a positive impact on their community. The award includes a grant towards their work and a year of dedicated support from our team.

This year’s event had a focus on mental wellbeing and joining us as our guest speaker was TV personality and mental health advocate, Gail Porter. Gail shared her honest and raw experience with her own mental health in a moving and memorable speech.

With Kids is a small charity that provides crucial mental health support to children and their families during difficult times. They work closely with communities, schools, and other agencies to foster healthy development, ensuring children can grow up to be happy and healthy adults. We look forward to supporting their work throughout the coming year.

First Castle in the World to Receive B Corp Certification

We are over the moon to become the first castle in the world to be awarded B Corp Certification, perfectly in time to celebrate our 10th year in business.

B Corp Certification is awarded to businesses that are able to demonstrate and maintain exceptionally high standards of socially and environmentally conscious practices. We now stand alongside international companies such as Patagonia, TOMS and Aesop who have all received the coveted Certification for putting people and planet before profit.

Andrew Marshall, CEO said: “In an age where businesses and consumers are seeing the importance of putting social and environmental issues above everything else, becoming B Corp Certified this month after 10 years of trading, is an excellent way to show our customers our lasting commitment to doing good by people and planet.”

Companies from around the world already use the castle for corporate retreats and events, and now we are excited to welcome even more like minded socially and environmentally conscious businesses through our doors in the wake of this announcement.

“When our guests come to Carlowrie Castle, whether that be for a business conference, a wedding, an exclusive-use party, a community event, or a private stay, they know that they are supporting us on our mission for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy,” Andrew continued.

To attain B Corp Certification, we had to undergo a comprehensive and rigorous process to measure our entire social and environmental performance. From supply chain and input materials to charitable giving and employee benefits, B Corp Certification verifies that a business is meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. All B Corp businesses are manually assessed and audited every three years to ensure they maintain these high standards.

Chris Turner, executive director of B Lab UK, said: “Welcoming Carlowrie Castle to the B Corp community is hugely exciting. Its commitment to doing business differently will be an inspiration to others and will help spread the notion that success in business is as much about people and planet as it is profit.”

Keith Taylor, Operations Director said: “Giving back to the environment and our community has long been an important part of what we do at Carlowrie Castle, but achieving this Certification has pushed us to do even more. It is a deliberately difficult Certification to attain which means it is held only by businesses who are truly passionate about environmental and social wellbeing. We’re immensely proud to be joining a group of like-minded businesses who share our commitment.”

The Breakfast Bothy Fundraiser

Do you know we run a charity? The Breakfast Bothy is a bright yellow former police box located near The Meadows in central Edinburgh. It was opened by the team at Carlowrie Castle in 2020 with a simple idea in mind: to provide a hot drink and breakfast to those who are homeless or otherwise unable to provide for themselves.

The Breakfast Bothy has created a safe community providing services, friendship and purpose. To further support our community, we are opening a charity shop which will not only provide funds to keep The Breakfast Bothy running but will be a community hub for our guests.

On the 19th April, 40 volunteers from Carlowrie braved the cold (2 degrees to be exact) and spent the night outside, in the grounds of the castle, to raise the final funds in order to make this happen.

Throughout the evening we heard from our guest speaker Walter DeForest, who shared his experience of homelessness and how that introduced him to art. He is now an artist and holds the record for the highest number of portraits created in 12 hours.

A huge thank you to everyone who donated, participated and supported us in helping raise over £11,000 towards setting up the community hub and charity shop, The Bothy Boutique.