Midhope Castle
SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > M
MIDHOPE DISTILLERY, WEST LOTHIAN
Outlander castle whisky distillery plans get the go ahead
The plans for the distillery, which is on the Hopetoun Estate, were submitted last July.
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Updated 16 th Apr 2021
Outlander fans know it as Jamie Fraser's home, Lallybroch, but soon Midhope Castle grounds will be home to a new whisky distillery.
As well as building a distillery, the plans include details on restoring the castle, which is currently an empty shell, to eventually include visitor accommodation.
The plans, which were approved on 13 April, show the site will include a 2850sqm distillery building, service buildings, landscaping, an access road and parking.
The Midhope Castle distillery, which will become one of a small number of single malt distilleries in the Lothians, will use barley grown on the Hopetoun Estate, which already has a long tradition of growing and supplying malting barley to the Scottish whisky trade.
outlander castle distillery
The distillery plans were submitted in July 2020
Speaking at the time of the plans being submitted, a spokesperson for the Midhope Castle Distillery Company said: “We will set out to design and build a distillery that makes great whisky while addressing sustainability through every element of its architecture, its construction and its operation.
“With an innovative approach across the board we would aim to reduce our production carbon footprint to the absolute minimum, if not to zero.
“We believe that this approach goes hand in hand with producing a distinctive and characterful single malt Scotch Whisky capable of reflecting the qualities and traditions of one of Scotland’s great historic estates.”
A planning statement on behalf of Hopetoun Estates Trust said: “The benefits arising from the proposed development at this site can be delivered in a manner that enhances the setting of the Midhope Castle and surrounding area.
“The proposals provide the opportunity to provide employment within a thoughtfully designed, appropriate development and extends the tourism-offer at Midhope Castle. The development will be complementary to Hopetoun House and the Estate.”
Fans of Outlander flock to the site in their thousands, but can only currently visit the grounds to take pictures of the castle.
Once the development is complete, these visitors will be able to access the repaired parts of the castle, which are set to be revamped to include tasting, meeting and dining rooms.
Initial work is expected to be completed in 2022 with further renovation and repairs to the castle (including accommodation) to take place once the business is established.
The castle lies on the same estate as Hopetoun House with the exterior used as a backdrop in series one and two of Outlander.
Client: Golden Decanters
Project: Midhope Distillery, West Lothian
Date: Start on Site 2022
SERVICES
Architecture
Interior Design
Conservation
MARKETS
Land Owners
TEAM
Gordon Beaton
Kirsty Jeffery
Melissa Cawdron
Alex Oliver
A new Single Malt Scotch Whisky Distillery at Midhope Castle which lies within the Hopetoun Estate on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
The overall project aims to create an environment to produce, share and market an exceptional whisky. Its success depends not just on the production of whisky but on the ability to invite guests to see the creative process, appreciate its origins and have the time to experience the whisky and the environment. It is intended in the future that the castle will be the venue for a significant part of these activities.
Responding to the unique setting has driven the initial key moves in developing the proposals. The remaining traces of the historic landscape structures have informed the location of the new distillery building and the strategy for the forming a new setting for both the castle and the distillery. The layout of the old castle gardens has influenced the landscape proposals whilst the new building aligns with the traces of the pathway and wall that once led away from the castle out to the landscape to the west.
The basic form of the new building has been influenced by common simple, robust utilitarian agricultural buildings. From a distance the distillery will appear as a grouping of simple, quiet forms in the landscape. The still house will be wrapped in timber giving it an abstract quality. This building will contain the stills and their copper forms will be visible through the glazed gable facing the castle courtyard.
The still house sits in a cooling pond and forms a gathering place at the visitor entrance to the distillery. This entrance aligns with both the reinstated road and wall running east to west but also with the existing track that leaves the site to the north.
A large, framed window on the first floor of the distillery offers panoramic views back to the castle,
On dark evenings this end of the building will glow and act as a lantern, drawing visitors across the landscape from the castle