Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada

Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

The naming of this building takes inspiration from Scottish practice in more ways than one. If you think of castles as being fortified medieval structures, then this clearly is not one of those and any visitor to Scotland will find that many castles there are actually big country houses and Craigdarroch Castle fits that mould well. The word Craigdarroch itself also suggests Scottish roots, and it should not come as a complete surprise that it was built by and home to a family with such connections.

The Dunsmuir family did well out of coal mining on Vancouver Island and this where some their wealth was spent. The grounds are not large though so anyone coming here will be wanting to see what is in the house itself and the location is such that a long walk from the heart of Victoria is needed unless you use another form of transport. In my case, it was an excuse to extend my explorations of British Columbia's provincial capital away from where most visitors had gathered.

See more photos from this album (British Columbia)