Saddell Castle - Scaffold Tours

Join us for an exclusive look at our maintenance project at Saddell Castle, from the heights of the scaffold. You’ll be provided with a hard hat, and a high vis vest, and taken on a one-hour tour of the scaffold for an up-close view of the skills and techniques being used to maintain this spectacular, Category A listed, building.

You will be led by the project architect, Nick, from ZM Architecture, and the site manager, Chris, from William Waugh & Sons (Builders) Ltd. They will show you the external works to the building, including the harling works and the masonry works. We will also have Landmark staff on site to answer your questions and share information about the project.

Essential information

Booking is required, there is a limited capacity of 10 people per tour. All visitors must be aged 18 or over. Sturdy footwear and weather appropriate clothing must be worn. This is a scaffold tour so all participants must be comfortable with heights (c. 14.5m at the top) and able to walk up and down the scaffold stairs unaided, and stand for the duration of the tour. Please look carefully at the images above to decide if you are comfortable with the height, the stairs and the exposure on the scaffold.

Unfortunately, if these health and safety requirements aren’t met we reserve the right to refuse entry to the site.

As an active building site, there are limited toilet facilities on site. Please dress appropriately for the weather as this is an outdoor event.

The tours will start promptly, and late comers won’t be able to join the tour after it has departed, so please arrive 15 minutes before your start time to sign in and get kitted out in your high vis and hard hat.

Getting to the event

As an active building site there is no parking at the Castle itself.

There is some parking available at Saddell Abbey, which is a half mile walk down a track to the Castle. Please ride share where possible and park responsibly to minimise the impact on our neighbours. (What 3 Words for entrance to Saddell Abbey car park: ///untruth.shutting.loudly)

It is also possible to travel to us by public transport, Saddell is on the bus line 445/300 between Campbeltown and Carradale. Check direct with local bus services for details.

From the bus stop, or the Abbey car park, walk south along the B842, across the bridge over the stream. After the stream take the first left into the drive. Continue on past the lodge building and through the next gateway and go straight ahead down the drive until you reach Saddell Castle facing you. This walk is c. 0.4 miles, and should take approximately 10 minutes.

What 3 Words for the Castle site entrance to sign in for your tour: ///paintings.nuptials.vote

Book your ticket

Please book via Eventbrite, select your time slot and the number of people attending. Please note, as tickets are limited, we would appreciate you cancelling your ticket if you are no longer able to attend to allow someone else to enjoy the experience instead. Please do this via Eventbrite using the link in your confirmation email.

Donating to Landmark

As a charity, the Landmark Trust relies on donations to support our work. We couldn’t have rescued over 200 Landmarks without the support of people like you. Your support saves historic buildings in danger of being lost forever and makes them available for all to experience and enjoy. Your donation could help train the craftspeople needed to restore buildings like this, or it could offer opportunities to young people to experience history first-hand, through our open days and free stays for study groups. We would be delighted if you felt able to add a gift to your booking today. We can’t wait to stay in touch and show you the difference your support has made. Thank you!