Broughty Castle
The internal features of the castle
The interior of the castle's tower has been home to a museum since 1969. Broughty Castle Museum, run by Dundee City Council's Arts and Heritage Department, houses fascinating displays on the life and times of Broughty ferry, the history of Dundee's whaling industry and the geology and wildlife of the area. The upper gallery also houses a display of arms and armour.
It is also possible to investigate the internal features of the tower house by exploring the museum's galleries. For example, the galleries are all accessed from a spiral stairway. Note how much the stairs are worn by generations of people walking up and down them.
The first floor, now housing displays on the life and times of Broughty Ferry, was once the castle's main hall. you can see that it has large windows, with seats built into the thickness of the walls. This is also true of the floor above, which now houses a display about Dundee's whaling industry. This room originally served as a bedchamber, or possibly as two. You can still see the large wooden roof beams, resting on projecting stone supports at either end, and the windows with their side seats. These features can also be seen in the natural history gallery.
Original tower house features can still be seen in the galleries
The armoury, near the top of the tower house, once served as the castle's garret, and may have been where the servants slept. Through its windows you can see the walls of the parapet walkway (now inaccessible).
Reached by climbing a few steps from the armoury is the World War II defence post, which was added to the top of the tower in 1942. this commands excellent views across the River Tay and along the coast to the north-east. Approaching enemy aircraft and ships could be seen from this high vantage point, and mines placed at the mouth of the river could also be set off from this position. For more information on what can be seen from the lookout post, go to The castle's relationships with its surroundings.