Drummond Arms Hotel

Part of One Street project - High Street, Crieff #3

The name Crieff derives from the Gaelic word 'craobh' meaning 'among trees.' and to this day it is known as 'the Gateway to the Highlands,' . There is a lot of history surrounding the town which I hope to enlarge on in later blips.

This blip features the Drummond Arms Hotel. The Drummond family were originally landowners in Stirlingshire. In 1491 Sir John Drummond founded Drummond Castle, just 2 miles south of Crieff and now there are many roads and buildings which bear the name and and The Drummond Arms Hotel in the centre of the town is but one. It has seen its fair share of history and a red plaque is fastened to its wall which marks the location of Bonnie Prince Charlie's last War Counsel in February 1746 prior to reviewing his men and marching north to his final defeat at Culloden on 16 April, 1746.

When I first came here the hotel was thriving and hosted many functions for the townspeople and was the regular meeting place for many societies including The Rotary Club. Unfortunately it has now fallen on very sad times, which you can read about here, and has been boarded up for over a year now as the current owner of the hotel appears to have vanished without a trace and a stalemate exists. This has had repercussions for the Royal Bank of Scotland, which has gamely been operating out of a portacabin in a car park for a year, as it has just been announced that RBS bosses have decided to pull out of Crieff altogether due to the ongoing impasse.

It is very sad that this wonderful old building has now become an eyesore and big white elephant in the centre of our town.