Dalmunzie Castle has a picture perfect setting, with the beautiful Perthshire mountains as its backdrop. But, its fame lies in not just its postcard beauty. It has a rich and diverse record of its times, with the property celebrating 500 years of written history in 1510.

First recorded in a charter between Sir Walter Scott of Balweary and John Fergusson of Dunfallandy, Dalmunzie has witnessed virtually every chapter of Scottish history.

The visitor today may easily be unaware that Dalmunzie was once home to hundreds of people speaking a language that has disappeared only recently. The standing stone and burial cairn near the church date from the Bronze Age (2000BC) when people were first settling in the area.

Dalmunzie’s written record begins in 1510, when Sir William Scott is on record granting lands, including Dalmunzie, to John Fergusson of Dunfallandy. The first recorded Laird was Robert MacRitchie who, along with his son Duncan ‘Cattanach’ MacRitchie, was declared a rebel in 1584 and 1589. They lived in the original Dalmunzie Castle, which stood near the 6th tee of the golf course.

Robert’s Great-Grandson, Robert MacKintosh, 3rd of Dalmunzie, fought in the Civil War with James Graham, Marquis of Montrose in 1645 and was instrumental in building Dalmunzie up to the estate it is today.

The men of Dalmunzie, along with those of Glenshee, were ardent Jacobites fighting at both Sheriffmuir in 1715 and the ill-fated Battle of Culloden in 1746. In those days, the glen must have been very different. Dalmunzie Castle stood on the other side of the burn above Dalmunzie fermtoun with 11 cottages, a mill and enclosures nearby. The glen between the hotel and the gatehouse was heavily populated with perhaps 150 people living in hamlets and farms on both sides of the present driveway. Lenoch-more, Lenoch-beg & Balneton were on the south side of the burn.

By 1813, Dalmunzie castle itself had fallen into ruins and an L shaped hunting lodge was built on the present site of the hotel in 1874 by Dr Charles Hills Macintosh, 10th Laird of Dalmunzie. A larger L shaped lodge was built over this in 1884, a Victorian wing added in the 1890′s and the building and estate leased for shooting parties. Hugh Richard Duncan Mackintosh, 11th Laird of Dalmunzie, was the last MacKintosh, dying childless in London in 1916. It was over this period that the Gaelic language, which had been in use for thousands of years in Glenshee, finally disappeared.

Over three hundred and fifty years of ownership by the Macintoshes came to an end when Dalmunzie was purchased in 1920 by Sir Archibald Birkmyre, who had leased the property as a shooting retreat since 1907.

Dalmunzie was used as a base for a mountain artillery regiment during the Second World War, with the Birkmyre family selling the estate in 1946 to Dennis Winton, a decorated WW2 fighter pilot. DW, as he was known, transformed Dalmunzie into a country house hotel. The hotel’s reputation as a special retreat was built over the next 30 years, with some families returning for many decades.

The hotel was purchased in 1987 & operated by Simon & Alex Winton until the decision was made to sell and concentrate their energies on Dalmunzie Estate in 2004. Scott & Brianna Poole, Australians of Scots’ descent, arrived at Dalmunzie Castle Hotel in February 2004. They both have an extensive background in the hotel industry with Scott working as one of the youngest managers at ‘The Savoy’ in London. After travelling Europe, they returned and settled in Australia, but the lure of Scotland proved too strong and after a seven year search they finally found Dalmunzie.

All of this diverse and interesting history has been collated and will be published in book available to purchase in 2011.

www.celticcastles.com/castles/dalmunzie-castle