Doune Castle and The Holy Grail

So today I went to Doune Castle with my Scotland on Film class. The castle is a spectacular example of a medieval castle and was first built for Robert the Bruce's grandson. There is a long history to it and it was amazing to walk around trying to picture the place while it was functioning. We were given little audio tour head sets to go around the castle narrated by an actor from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Why? Because most of the movie was shot at Doune castle. Now, I LOVE THAT MOVIE! So this was an amazing experience for me. Scenes from the castle with the insulting Frenchman, Camelot, Swamp Castle, and the Castle Anthrax were all filmed there!!

 There it is! Doune Castle! Look familiar yet to those who have seen the movie?

 This is the main quart yard of the castle. The wedding at Swamp Castle was filmed here! Many of the extras in that scene were just people who had come to see the castle that day and they convinced to stick around.

 That staircase ring any bells? That is the staircase Lancelot lost control and killed two men before being pulled back. That was one of my favorite parts so I was pretty excited to see it!

 I know it is difficult to tell being the scaffolds, but underneath them was the wall used for the insulting Frenchman scene....your father was a hamster and your mother smelt of elderberries!

 So this room was the kitchen of the castle. It was actually very cool and described in detail how it worked in the audio tour. What you see in the above photo is actually the fire place! It was massive! You could cook two full grown cows in the thing! For the movie, this was used for Castle Anthrax. They transformed the fireplace into the room where Sir Galahad is "treated" for his wounds ;)

 The photo above and below are the rest of the kitchen. The entrance to the kitchen was also the entrance of Castle Anthrax and in the scene where Galahad tries to escape and runs into the bathing room is all the same place...the kitchen!

 The below picture is just an example of the insane spiral staircases in this place. Any time you went up you had these staircases which were steep and slippery. The railing, obviously, was a modern addition. I have no idea how people did not fall down these stairs daily.

 The above photo is of the grand hall where parties where thrown. The slightly elevated platform at the front of the hall is where the most important attendees would sit and the rest of the guests would dine in the hall. This was also the location of the song for Camelot!

 This is part of the Duchess' quarters. It was a very large room where the Duchess did her entertaining and also contained the Duke and Duchess' private chapel. It was also the room where, in Swamp Castle, the prince was help. That is the window he fell out of at that doorway (which actually led out to the wall) was where the two terrible guards stood watch!

 I had to take this photo through a door, but the above photo is the top of the wall of the insulting Frenchman! It was actually the wall that was attached to the Duchess' quarters.

 This causeway was where the knights of the round table pushed up the wooden rabbit!

Finally, this is just a view of the castle from the very top of the battlements. I learned a lot about castles today. I learned noble's bedrooms were actually very small and that fireplaces everywhere actually kept the castle very warm. I saw basements for food storage and grand halls for parties. I climbed staircases and walked through the same corridors hundreds of people have done before me and tried to imagine what they saw when they looked at the same rooms as I did. I found the task very difficult and, not for the first time, wished I could go back in time to see it for myself. Of course all the movie stuff was just an extra bonus. It was a very amazing trip :D