Thousands flocking to Perthshire attractions
Visitor numbers up by six percent
The number of people visiting historic Perthshire sites rose by over six per cent last year.
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) released visitor figures for the 2017/18 financial year earlier this week.
And the statistics show tourists are continuing to flock to beautiful Perthshire in high numbers.
A total of 45,310 people went through the gates at six manned Perthshire attractions, up from just over 42,582 in 2016/17.
There was a huge increase at Stanley Mills, one of the bestpreserved relics of the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s.
A record 9152 people paid a visit, up 34 per cent on the previous year.
Footfall was also up 18 per cent at Huntingtower Castle. The castle - where Mary Queen of Scots and her husband, Lord Darnley, stayed during a rebellion - saw 8874 people come through the door.
St Serf’s Church had nearly 3000 visitors, up 12 per cent, on the previous year while, Meigle Museum recorded a six per cent increase with 2539 visits. Elcho Castle saw 7717 people visit, up two per cent in 2016/17.
The only decrease was recorded at Loch Leven Castle, where 14,079 people were recorded as visiting, down 10 per cent on the 15,655 the previous year. HES has put this down to closures caused by poor weather.
The picture was the same across the whole of Scotland, with over five million folk visiting HES sites, up 17 per cent on the year before.
Stephen Duncan, director of commercial and tourism at HES, said: “It is an incredible achievement to celebrate recordbreaking figures across our sites.”