Tourist hotspot set for toilets upgrade
New toilets could be created to accommodate the surge in visitors to Doune Castle in recent years.
Known by some as ‘the Outlander effect,’ in reference to the attraction being used as a filming location for the cult Amazon series, the castle has experienced an increase in popularity.
However, now infrastructure is being developed locally in a bid to help the community keep up.
Historic Environment Scotland have submitted an application to Stirling Council planners to replace existing temporary toilet facilities to the rear of the castle at Castle Cottage, Castle Road, with new permanent visitor toilet facilities.
The plans also include removing a derelict outbuilding and carrying out associated landscaping works.
In documents submitted with the application, HES said: “The Castle Keeper’s Cottage marks the second gateway along the entrance road to the grounds on the approach to Doune Castle and is currently used by the Visitor Operations team as a staff facility.
“The area of the proposed visitor toilet facilities upgrade sits immediately to the rear of the cottage within the existing enclosure built into a raised embankment where the existing temporary visitor toilet facilities are currently housed.
“Doune Castle is one of the top visitor attractions in the HES Estate. Over recent years, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, visitors numbers had increased sharply due to a range of factors including the featuring of Doune Castle in popular film and television series. Peak visitor numbers were close to 150,000 per year with a concentration in the summer months.
“In response to the challenges of this popularity, the site has undergone considerable investment through the Doune ‘Sustainable Tourism Project’, a pilot initiative to promote responsible tourism approaches.
“Visitor numbers have drastically reduced since a 2019 peak due to the global effect of the pandemic on tourism and future visitor numbers are difficult to predict. Yet it is understood that Doune Castle will continue to be a key visitor attraction and local economic driver.”
Castle Keeper’s Cottage is a Category B-listed building dating from the early 19th century, when the castle was re-roofed and partially restored by the Earls of Moray and the landscape was developed.
The current visitor toilet facilities are located within a rear enclosure. There are four temporary toilet cubicles arranged in two sets of two cubicles, back to back. While plumbed into mains drainage, they are temporary/portable facilities. They have been on site for four years and are said to be “coming to the end of their design life, with condition deteriorating”.
The HES document states: “Both visitor and staff toilet facilities are located within the cottage, consisting of two standard toilet cubicles and one accessible toilet.
“The accessible toilet in the cottage is the only one offered at the site. These facilities were refurbished in 2017 and are in good order. There is no current plan to change the use of the cottage however the preference would be to only allow staff access within the cottage with visitor toilets, including accessible facilities, provided elsewhere.”