Balmoral Castle on the Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is the private residence of The Queen. Beloved by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Balmoral Castle has remained a favourite residence for The Queen and her family during the summer holiday period in August and September.
Covering about 20,000 hectares (just over 50,000 acres), the Balmoral Estate is very much a working estate which provides for, and is integrated with, the local community. Privately owned and funded by The Queen, the estate is managed on her behalf by the Resident Factor. The estate employs about 50 people full-time and a further 50 to 100 part-time.
Farming is difficult because of the nature of the ground and the climate - there are seven Munros (mountains over 1,000m/3,000 ft) and most of the land lies over 300m above sea level. At present about 100 hectares are farmed in hand and 75 hectares let to neighbouring farmers.
One of the estate's most ecologically important areas is the roughly 1,000 hectare (2,500 acre) Ballochbuie Forest. Bought in 1878 by Queen Victoria to save it from a timber merchant, Ballochbuie now contains one of the largest remnants of native Caledonian Pine forest left in the country.
Thirty years ago, a small area of the forest known as 'the tennis court' was enclosed in a regeneration trial suggested by The Duke of Edinburgh. In 1979, when the success of the experiment was clear, a further block of about 20 hectares (50 acres) was enclosed.
This in turn showed such encouraging signs of regeneration that the enclosed area was expanded to about 300 hectares (750 acres) in 1992. The enclosed area is thoroughly monitored by the Institute for Terrestrial Ecology (ITE).
In addition to Ballochbuie, a further 2,000 hectares of the estate (nearly 5,000 acres) are planted with trees, which also provide shelter for red deer. More than 20 Highland, Fell and Haflinger ponies are kept for trekking and deer retrieval during the stalking season.
The Queen founded the Balmoral fold of Highland Cattle in 1953 and it now has 29 cows.
The game resources of deer, grouse and salmon fishing provide employment and earn revenue for the estate. An additional 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) of sporting rights are rented from a neighbouring estate.
The Balmoral Estate also contributes to the local tourism industry. About 4,000 people are employed in the tourist industry on Deeside and the surrounding area and Balmoral is one of the major attractions for visitors.
Some 85,000 people visit the castle and gardens each year, and many others walk amidst the spectacular scenery which forms part of the estate.
In 1974 the estate designated the area around Loch Muick and Lochnagar as a wildlife reserve under the management of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and built and equipped a visitors' centre to host the increasing numbers of people coming to enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
The East Grampians and Lochnagar Visitor Survey, carried out for Scottish National Heritage by Aberdeen University in 1995, showed that up to 180,000 hill walkers and other visitors use the open countryside and hills on and adjoining Balmoral Estate each year.
No Comments Yet - Why not be the first to leave a comment
Every effort is made to make sure that all the information is correct but we strongly recommend that you call Balmoral Castle before you set off on your day out to confirm opening times and admission prices.
Please also note that the position on Google maps for Balmoral Castle is a rough estimate using their postcode in the database and might be slightly out.
It may also be worth clicking the web link for Balmoral Castle to see if there are any special events coming up or currently on.
Balmoral Castle