Welcome to

•Glamis is a small preserved conservation village situated in Angus, Scotland

•It is located 4 miles South of Kirriemuir; 5 miles South West of Forfar and 12 miles from Dundee

•Glamis lies in Strathmore estates, a beautiful rolling

landscape

•It has been home to the Strathmore family since 1372

Glamis Population:

1780’s: 2040

1836: 2050

1910:1159

1993: 790

•Glamis Castle & Glamis Village are the focus of a traditional

rural estate which today supports and encourages the

development of a thriving rural community

•The estate has developed over many centuries and today

comprises a wide variety of properties, businesses and

leisure activities

•Evidence of man’s

habitation around

Glamis can be

traced back to the

Picts

•The carved

standing stone in

the manse garden,

dating from the 9th-

10th century is an

excellent example

of their work

•Later Glamis

became a centre of

conversion of Picts

to Christianity

•St Fergus, Patron

Saint of Glamis,

travelled across

from Ireland in the

early 8th century

•He employed

himself the task of

converting the

‘barbarous people’

to Christianity

•He choose Glamis

as his place of rest

and is said to have

lived in a cave on

the banks of the

Glamis burn

•St Fergus Well on the banks of the Glamis Burn was used by

the parish to baptise the earliest converts to Christianity in

Strathmore

•The well still exists to this day and is named after him

•It wasn't until the early 14th century that Glamis once again

began playing a significant role in Scottish history

•After the capture and destruction of the Castle of Forfar by

Robert the Bruce, it was never rebuilt

•Thus when the King was visiting the area he resided in the

royal hunting lodge at Glamis

•Much of Glamis village was built by the Earl of Strathmore

around 1760 and the policy with all dwellings is to maintain

the character of these buildings whilst providing modern

accommodation for those living in the rural community

•1793 saw the building of the cottages in Kirkwynd which

housed the weavers who worked in their own homes

producing hand woven linen

•The houses are

now occupied by

the Angus Folk

Museum

•This is a major

attraction and is

run by The

National Trust for

Scotland

•The museum

vividly illustrates

the former way of

life of the Angus

villagers

•In about 1745, the

thatched cottage

was built, which is

known as the

White Hall

•With other

dwellings in the

Main Street being

built by 1765

•There is now a mixed portfolio of commercial, residential and

agricultural lettings on the estate and in Glamis village

•There is a large number of residential properties

•New housing areas are being developed in the village with

numerous plots of land for sale

•The village took

on much of its

present form in

the latter half of

the eighteenth

century

•Expansion of the

village continued

throughout this

period and into

the first half of

the nineteenth

century

•In 1965 the Royal

Bank of Scotland

opened in Glamis

Village

•There was a

bakers and bake

house

•The bakers shop

was once owned

by Margaret

Bridie, the

original maker of

the Forfar Bridie

•The village

also housed a

small hall

(Masonic

Hall) and a

local jail

•There was

also a Hotel

and a Post

Office in

Glamis

village

•The Butchers shop, which was open 3 days a week, was

owned by Coutts Brothers of Forfar

•Next to the Butchers was an ironmongers

•Further to the south of the village there was a local doctors

house and surgery

•Unfortunately Glamis

Village no longer hosts a

Bank, Bakers, Butchers or

Ironmongers due to

reduced demand as a

result of private transport

• However there is still a

range of commercial

properties including:

•The Strathmore Arms

Public House and

Restaurant

•The Glamis Corner

shop/Post office

•Glamis village

also hosts:

•Workshops

and garages

•Sand and

gravel quarry

•Architects

•Masonic Hall

•The War Years:

•Glamis was not without

its pain, effort and

excitement during both

the world wars

•The village war memorial

records the names of 31

local men who fell in the

Great War

•In 1919 the school pupils

raised £200 for the War

Saving Association for

the benefits of the

injured and bereaved

•The school was not taken over for military purposes and

pupils continued to attend but the soup kitchen was

shared with Polish troops

•Additionally the school roll was expanded for most of

the war by some 26 evacuees from the Dundee area

•The Railway at Glamis:

•Provided the parish and village with a link to the rest of

Angus and Scotland

•In 1838 the Newtyle and Glamis line was opened for

passenger traffic

•The railway line was closed in 1956

•The local station played a large part in the area

•All coal arrived by rail, potatoes were shipped to the south

and livestock came and went in profusion

•Passenger trains ran regularly to Forfar, Arbroath, Montrose,

Aberdeen and Perth

•In the summer months excursions ran to Glasgow

•Now there is only a bus service covering the Glamis area

•Buses run from Glamis to Forfar, Kirriemuir and Dundee

•Buses run every 60 minutes

• David, Bishop of St Andrews, dedicated a church to St

Fergus on the site of the present church in 1242

• In the 15th century Isabella Ogilvy, wife of the first Lord

Glamis, built the Strathmore Aisle which adjoins the church

• It was used as the Strathmore family burial vault until the

death of the 12th Earl in 1865

• The earliest tombs in the graveyard date from 1630 and

they include those of masons, weavers, farmers, brewers,

bakers, metal workers and many other trades

•The remainder

of the church

was taken

down in 1790

to make way

for the

present

church

•The Church

plays a

central role in

Glamis

•In 1695,

improvements were

made to the pre-

reformation church

and it was fitted out

with fixed pews

•The pre-Reformation

church at Glamis

was mostly

demolished in 1792

as it was very old

and in bad condition

•Schooling in the 1780’s:

•The school was described as flourishing with around 50

scholars

•A school teacher received a salary and perquisites of about

£50 a year

•The expansion of education in the village outgrew the school

and in 1839, the Trustees of the Earl of Strathmore

generously endowed the construction of a new building,

which remains the current school

•The average

roll over the

period 1875-

1974 was 80 to

100 pupils

•This had fallen

to 30 in 1962

but had risen

again to 85 in

1974

•School roll

today is about

70 pupils

•Conflicting interests of rural life often imposed on education

•The majority of the governors were farmers who perhaps

ignored absenteeism in the interest of planting and

harvesting

•Attendance was seen to drop at the times of potato and

grain planting and harvesting

•In 1899 the Earl and

Countess of Strathmore

gifted a soup kitchen to

the school which operated

in winter months until

1943 when the school

meals service commenced

•In 1946 saw the school

milk service initiated

•Despite all of this however,

employment opportunity

for children leaving school

was often limited

•Strathmore estate was almost self contained in the late

eighteenth century with much industrial activity taking

place

•The people of the parish were involved in ‘quarrying of grey

slate, free stone, dyking stone, mill stone and stones for

over soles’

•Assorted tile and brick

making, lime burning,

charcoal manufacture and

timber works all existed in the

parish

•Lead and silver mining also

took part in the parish. The

lead mine was worked quite

extensively in the 1770’s but

the silver mining was not

carried on

•The linen industry also occupied a very prominent position in

the village

•This activity was concentrated along the Glamis Burn to the

south east of the village in the area now know as ‘The Mill’

•The site of the main flax mill of 1806 is now beneath the

main Forfar to Perth road but to the north of this survives

much of the remains of the former industry

•Girls normally became domestic

servants where work was hard

and hours were long

•A normal working day stretched

for 15 hours and included tasks

such as cleaning the kitchen,

lighting fires, milking cows,

feeding bothy men and

churning milk for butter and

cheese

•The girls would normally remain

in these jobs until married –

probably to a ploughman or the

luckier ones to a farmers son

•Boys usually found work

on farms or as ploughmen

earning £6-10 per year

•Eventually, progress to

foreman gave them about

£30 per year and finally

possibly Greive (farm

manager) at about £35 per

year

•The farm bothy system

seems to have originated

in Strathmore as early as

around 1770

•By mid 1800’s there were

virtually no lowland farm in

Angus and the Mearns

without a bothy where mostly

unmarried farm workers lived

under one roof

•Life was spartan with long

working days and poor foods

•A married man who worked as

a ploughman or cattleman

would be provided with a

cottage near the main farm

•His wife and children would

be expected to work on the

farm during busy times such

as harvest and potato lifting

•The coming of the Twentieth Century:

•The weekly market was poorly supported and eventually

ceased, the quarries were worked out and began to close

and the flax operation was moved to Dundee

•In 1894, the estate extended to 22,000 acres in total, with

15,000 acres arable land, 5600 pasture and 2000 acres of

woodland

•The estate contained 152 farms

•Within the Strathmore valley farming is still the main form of

industry

•The estate now employs a Farms Director who supervises

seven farms totalling 4500 acres

•There are pigs, sheep, chickens and hens, commercial cattle

and highland cattle

•The arable operation

grow wheat, barley,

oilseed rape and

vegetables including

cauliflower, broccoli,

carrots and potatoes

•Once again, although

the most modern

tractors and

machinery are used

great care is taken to

enhance and conserve

the wildlife habitats

and field margins

• The estate is fortunate to have a large tourism operation

centred around the Castle which brings in many tens of

thousands of visitors each year

• From earliest known records Glamis belonged to the

Scottish crown

•In 1372 Glamis Castle and lands were granted to John Lyon

by King Robert II, for the peppercorn rent of a red falcon to

be delivered each day

•At this time the castle was most likely a wooden building

used primarily as a hunting lodge which would have been

heavily wooded with much deer, bear, pig and other game

•The pink sandstone L-shaped tower block was remodelled in

the 17th century and the building you see today is very much

that magnificent creation, although like all great buildings it

continues to grow and evolve

•The castle is perhaps best

known as the childhood

home of Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth The

Queen Mother

•The Queen Mother was born

Elizabeth Bowes Lyon

•Elizabeth's parents were Lord

and Lady Glamis

•Her father, Claude was heir to the ancient Scottish Earldom

of Strathmore and Kinghorne

•When Elizabeth was four her grandfather, the 13th Earl died

and her father inherited the Earldom, and with it, Glamis

Castle

•Elizabeth was now ‘Lady Elizabeth’ and the family thereafter

divided their time between Glamis, St Paul’s Walden Bury

and Streatlam Castle

•HRH Princess Margaret:

•On August 21st 1930,

Princess Margaret Rose

was born at Glamis Castle

•The first Royal baby to be

born in Scotland in over

three centuries

•Local people built a huge

bonfire on the hill above

to celebrate

•The Haunted Glamis:

•It is said that Glamis is the most haunted castle in Scotland

•There are many myths and legends attached to Glamis

•The ghost of the little

pageboy:

•Sits on the stone seat just

inside the Queen Mother’s

Sitting room

•He was renowned for

mischief and was often told

to sit there for punishment

•On the coldest night of the

winter the boy was

forgotten and not dismissed

from the seat

•Sadly, during the night he

died

•The ghost today has a habit

of sticking his foot out to

trip the unwary as they

enter the room

•The secret chamber of

Glamis:

•Lord Glamis and the Earl of

Crawford were begged to

stop playing cards as the

clock struck midnight on a

Saturday evening

•They disobeyed the

request and the Devil

appeared and their

doomsday had come

•Some say that on a

Saturday evening you can

still hear the two lords

playing cards

•There is evidence of planting and landscaping at Glamis

stretching back some five centuries

•At one time the castle was surrounded by extensive walled

gardens, created by the 3rd earl in the 17th century

•Much of the planting

which provides the

setting for the Castle

today, including many

fine conifers were

planted by the 13th Earl

after 1865

•The gardens at Glamis

castle include: The

Forecourt and Dutch

Garden; The Avenue;

The Italian Garden and

Nature Trail and The

Pinetum and Walled

Garden

• Glamis Castle is now

the home of the Earl of

Strathmore and his

family

• It is a five star tourist

attraction

•It hosts:

•Shops: selling a wide

range of local gifts,

souvenirs, books,

antiques, paintings by

local artists, knitwear,

plants, clothing and

Scottish produce

•Plus a restaurant

situated in the

magnificent old Castle

Kitchens with the 19th

century ovens, stoves

and pans carefully

restored

•Glamis Castle is suitable for private receptions, lunch

parties, grand dinners, cocktail parties and wedding

receptions

•The park is also suitable for many outdoor events such as

craft fairs, archery, clay pigeon shooting, activity days and

musical evenings

•Glamis is a living, breathing monument of Scottish

hospitality; a place of enjoyment, contemplation, laughter

and wonder for all

•Glamis embraces all who visit and leaves most with a sense

of history continuing and the future unfolding

I hope you have enjoyed your tour of

Glamis

Please visit again soon!