Bedrooms at Kincardine Castle
A guided tour by by Andrew Bradford
The Chinese Room
All these bedrooms are furnished individually with antiques. All have their own particular character.
The Chinese Bedroom. Single Room with en-suite bathroom. Full of old Chinese furniture the main feature is the extraordinary 'drum' bed. This dates from the late 18th century and the only other one we know of is in London's Victoria and Albert Museum and they don’t allow you to sleep in it. Presumably the bed was imported as part of captain’s cargo from a seafaring forebear. The bed is held together with wooden wedges which tighten up cleverly made locking joints. It seems the bed was an early example of self-assembly furniture.
Emslie. Twin-bedded room with en-suite bathroom. The room was named after the decorator who in 1935 managed to hang the wallpaper inside out - it remained that way for the next 36 years. There are two comfortable single brass beds and the room has a stunning view over Deeside.
The Garden Room.Twin-bedded room with en-suite bathroom. The two west-facing windows overlook our walled garden which we are gradually restoring (see the Garden page on this web site). The still-life oil paintings and other pictures, some by my late aunt Elizabeth Cameron, keep the botanical theme going.
Old King Cole. Twin or Double bedroom with en-suite bathroom. Before we made alterations to add the bathroom this room had Victorian wallpaper with an OKC theme, hence the name. The bathroom has fabulous ceramic tiles by William de Morgan who just happened to be married to artist Evelyn Pickering, first cousin of my great-grandmother. (See also the Bird Room). It has another lovely view.
The Tower Room. Twin-bedded room with en-suite shower room. Perched high above the front door this room's five windows give astounding views from east to south-west across Deeside.
The Turret Room. Double bed with en-suite bathroom. The twin turrets flank the bed which has a painted headboard formed from the over-mantle which was removed from our Drawing Room fireplace in 1930. This room is a favourite.
The Bird Room Twin bedded room with en-suite bathroom. So called because of the birds on the wallpaper and not after the laird's girlfriends before he married. Wonderful light room with great view. The bathroom has stunning ceramic tiles by William de Morgan (see also Old King Cole above).
The Queen's Bedroom.Double four-poster bed with en-suite bathroom. Named in honour of a private visit by Her Majesty the Queen and members of her family in 1991. She never actually used it but her coat did lie on the bed. This room overlooks the entrance drive and five windows give views from north-east to south-west.
Maggies's Room. Double bed with en-suite bathroom. This room faces south-east and is lovely and bright in the mornings. It has views over the woodland garden and fields. Maggie is my sister and this was her room when she grew up at Kincardine.
Nini's Room.Single bedroom with wash basin. Has a private bathroom although this is not en-suite. It has a fine old brass bedstead. Nini was my father's batman (soldier servant).
Charlie’s Room.A Twin or Double bedroom with en-suite bathroom. Charlie is our younger son and availability of this room depends on his army leave and whether we can actually get into the room to tidy it up. Actually once we’ve done that this makes a splendid guest room. You can lie in the bath and admire the superb view secure in the knowledge that only passing balloonists can see you.
Susan’s Room. This ground-floor room has a four-poster bed. It has an en-suite shower room. The room is named after my mother the previous Laird of Kincardine. The room has a lovely view over Deeside.
The Tallboy Room. No this does not refer to an unexpected guest but the lovely antique tallboy that graces this room. One of the twin beds has been lengthened to suit tall guests over 6’ 7”. This ground-floor room has an en-suite shower room which is suitable for a wheel-chair. We are currently at an impasse with the authorities about widening the door into the room so as to make it easier for the wheel-chair to get into the bedroom. It just fits at the moment. As far as I can tell the authorities would prefer it if we had the disabled bathroom but no means of getting to it. A classic example where interpretation of regulations to preserve buildings collides with others to help the disabled. We hope to resolve this issue at some point. There is a lovely view from this room over Deeside.
The Cook’s Room.This is a nice single bedroom on the ground floor. There is a private bathroom close-by. The bedroom looks out onto the carriage sweep and the fields beyond.
The Butler’s Room. This single bedroom is adjacent to the Cook’s Room. It too has a private bathroom nearby. The bedroom looks out onto the carriage sweep and the fields beyond.
