About
Huntingtower Castle, situated just west of Perth, is one of Scotland's most architecturally unusual and historically eventful castles — a composition of two complete tower houses built separately in the fifteenth century and later joined by a connecting range that transformed them into a single residence.
The eastern tower dates from around the late fifteenth century and the western tower from the early sixteenth, and the visible gap between their upper storeys — wide enough for a person to jump across — gives rise to the castle's most famous legend. The story holds that a daughter of the first Earl of Gowrie, caught visiting her lover in the western tower by her parents, leapt the gap between the towers rather than be discovered — an event commemorated in local legend as 'the Maiden's Leap'.
The castle was originally known as the House of Ruthven, taking its present name only after the forfeiture of the Ruthven family following the Gowrie Conspiracy of 1600. The Ruthvens were one of the most powerful noble families in late sixteenth-century Scotland, and Huntingtower was the scene of one of the most dramatic political events of James VI's reign: the Raid of Ruthven in August 1582, when a group of Protestant noblemen — led by William Ruthven, first Earl of Gowrie — seized the young king and held him captive in the castle for nearly ten months.
The raiders sought to remove the influence of James's Catholic favourite Esmé Stuart and to redirect royal policy towards the Protestant interest.
Though James eventually escaped, the episode illustrates vividly the turbulent relationship between the Scottish crown and its powerful nobility in the Reformation period. The most remarkable artistic survival at Huntingtower is the painted decoration on the ceiling and wall of the great chamber in the eastern tower — heraldic devices, interlaced strapwork, and Renaissance motifs rendered in tempera pigments directly onto the plaster and timber.
This painted decoration is among the finest and best-preserved examples of secular interior painting surviving in Scotland from the sixteenth century, comparable in quality and ambition with the painted ceilings of Craigievar and Crathes.
The castle is managed by Historic Environment Scotland as a seasonal paid site, typically open April to September.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- The painted great chamber in the eastern tower is the unmissable highlight — ask the admissions staff to point you to it as you enter, as it can be easy to miss on a self-guided visit.
- Huntingtower is a seasonal site, typically open April to September. Check the HES website for exact dates before making a special visit.
- The castle is an easy bus ride from Perth city centre — bus routes 7 and 7A stop near the castle, making it accessible without a car.
- Combine with Elcho Castle (HES, approximately 8 miles south-east) for a full Perthshire castles day — both are exceptional HES paid sites in the Perth area.
- Look for the narrow gap between the upper floors of the two towers — this is the 'Maiden's Leap' of legend, and seeing it in person gives the story physical reality.
- An HES Explorer Pass gives unlimited entry to Huntingtower and over 70 other HES sites — excellent value for a multi-site Scotland itinerary.
- The painted ceiling colours are best appreciated in good natural light — a bright morning visit to the great chamber gives the richest viewing conditions.
- Perth Museum and Art Gallery in the city centre is free to enter and provides excellent broader context on Perthshire's history — an ideal complement to the castle visit.
Highlights
The Painted Great Chamber
The outstanding feature of Huntingtower Castle and one of the most remarkable survivals of sixteenth-century Scottish decorative art is the painted great chamber of the eastern tower. The ceiling and walls retain tempera-painted decoration of exceptional quality: heraldic devices and shields of the Ruthven family, interlaced strapwork borders, Renaissance foliage ornament, and figurative motifs applied directly to plaster and painted boards.
The colours — ochres, reds, greens, and blacks derived from mineral pigments — have retained considerable vibrancy over four centuries.
This type of painted interior decoration was fashionable among the Scottish nobility in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; very few examples survive with this degree of completeness. The Huntingtower paintings are among the most accomplished in the country, displaying the ambition of the first Earl of Gowrie to present his castle as a residence of Continental sophistication.
The Two Tower Houses
The most distinctive architectural feature of Huntingtower is the fact that it consists of two entirely separate tower houses — the eastern tower of the late fifteenth century and the western tower of the early sixteenth — standing close together and later joined by a connecting range but otherwise structurally independent.
This twin-tower composition is almost unique among Scottish castles and gives the castle a complex, multi-phase character that repays close architectural attention. The junction between the two towers, the connecting range added in the seventeenth century, and the original staircase turrets of both towers can all be read clearly in the existing fabric.
The narrow gap between the upper floors of the two towers — still visible — inspired the legend of the Maiden's Leap.
The Raid of Ruthven — Royal Captivity 1582
In August 1582, a group of Protestant Scottish noblemen led by William Ruthven, first Earl of Gowrie, lured the young King James VI to the House of Ruthven (as Huntingtower was then called) and detained him there for nearly ten months. The Ruthvens sought to remove the influence of the King's French Catholic favourite Esmé Stuart, Duke of Lennox, and to reassert Protestant control over royal policy.
James was effectively a prisoner in the castle until June 1583, when he escaped.
The Raid of Ruthven is one of the most dramatic episodes of the Scottish Reformation era, and standing in the castle where it occurred — the rooms where the sixteen-year-old king was held — gives the event an immediate historical reality that no textbook can replicate.
The Maiden's Leap
The gap between the upper floors of Huntingtower's two towers — narrow enough to be jumpable, just — is the setting of one of Scotland's best-known castle legends. According to the story, a daughter of the first Earl of Gowrie was caught visiting her lover in the western tower by her parents and, rather than be discovered crossing by the internal stair, leapt the gap from one tower to the other and made it back to bed before they reached her room.
The jump is now named 'the Maiden's Leap' and is commemorated in the castle's interpretation.
Whatever its historical basis, the legend captures something of the spirit of a castle that was simultaneously a domestic residence of genuine comfort and a place of violent political intrigue — the everyday and the dramatic compressed into the same small building.
Collections
Huntingtower Castle's primary collection is its architectural fabric and the exceptional painted decoration of the eastern tower's great chamber. Historic Environment Scotland presents the castle through on-site interpretation panels, guided tours, and the HES website and publications. There is no conventional object collection on display; the castle and its paintings are the experience.
HES also provides educational resources for school groups covering the Raid of Ruthven and Scottish Reformation history.
The Painted Great Chamber
The sixteenth-century painted ceiling and wall decoration of the eastern tower — heraldic devices, Renaissance ornament, and tempera painting among the finest surviving secular painted interiors in Scotland.
Castle Interpretation
On-site panels and guided tours covering the architectural history, the Ruthven family, and the Raid of Ruthven.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.