The Pagan Sites of Europe Remembered (31): The Temple of Apollo, Taymouth Castle, Perthshire

Built in 1774, the Temple of Apollo at Taymouth Castle was part of the Neoclassical affectation that was then rife in much of Europe. Was it really a temple, we could well ask. Perhaps not in the sense of fanatical belief, but interest in Apollo, even in its 18th-century iteration, was something of a cult, with a focus on the intellect and the arts -- a more rarefied religion perhaps.

Possibly the details of the temple will tell us more.

The building itself is small and rather humble, but not unpleasant to look at, and it is believed to have contained a statue that could only be that of the god Apollo. The photos here appear to have been taken in 2014.

It was most probably built by the order of John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland, who died childless in 1782. His successor, a cousin, pulled down the existing castle and built the present Taymouth Castle in its stead.

Here are two brief accounts relating to the temple:

Circular, surmounting mound; semicircular arches with triple keystones, low ogee roof. Harled with margins. One of the spectacular and complete group of structures making up the Taymouth Castle estate (Historic Scotland).

There is some evidence that the entrances were enclosed with doors and there are references to a "metal cast of a god, now lying at the base with disemembered limbs" suggesting the building originally housed a sculpture. (RPS Consultants Ltd)

The temple has had a rather sombre fate and has fallen into ruin. The cult, such as it was, was not passed down the generations. The castle and its contents were sold in 1922, became a hotel for a time, then a hospital serving Polish troops during the war, was leased to a civil defence school, and then a boarding school, and is now the subject of contested plans for restoration.

The grounds around the temple are occupied by a gold course, but the forested mound on which the temple sits (or once sat?) appears to be still undisturbed.