Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / United Kingdom / Callander / Thackray House
Thackray House
Callander, Scotland, United Kingdom · Independent · Near Luxury
For decades this was the Roman Camp, a rambling house on the River Teith that began as a hunting lodge for the Drummonds. Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, bought it in 1896 and brought in Gerald Dunnage. The house carries the Drummond motto, Gang warily. Sir James and Lady Wilson opened the hotel in 1939. In April 2026 the new owners renamed it Thackray House.
- 15 rooms
- Opened 1939
About Thackray House
- The mounds south of the house, the supposed Roman camp, are the old course of the Teith. The real fort is at Bochastle, west of Callander. The house is Category B.
- Esher became Governor of Windsor Castle and edited Queen Victoria's letters. The Correspondence came out in 1907, while this was still his Perthshire retreat.
- Gail and Sydney Thackray reopened the hotel in April 2026 after a £3 million restoration led by Inverlochy Castle Management International. It keeps 15 rooms.
History
The house began, by repute, as a seventeenth-century hunting lodge of the Drummonds, later Dukes of Perth. The main block was remodelled around the middle of the nineteenth century, and an eighteenth-century bow-ended wing sits to the west. Viscount Esher bought it in 1896 from the Earl of Ancaster and employed Gerald Dunnage. Sir James and Lady Wilson of Airdrie bought the estate in 1938 and opened the hotel in 1939 under the name Roman Camp. Gail and Sydney Thackray renamed it Thackray House in April 2026 after a £3 million restoration.
The setting
Off the east end of Main Street, Callander, FK17 8BG, on the banks of the River Teith in about 20 acres of garden and wood. The village is a short walk. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs are the country outside the gate.
Experiences
- Murder Mystery Dinners — Immersive interactive dinners with murder mystery, comedy and dressing up.
- Still Burning: An Evening with Kate Foster — Dinner with crime writer Kate Foster inspired by 18th-century Scottish life, with gin cocktail, Q&A and a book and bookplate for each guest.
- Live & Let Spy: A 'Bond' Movie Tribute — Interactive Bond-themed dinner with Walking Theatre performers, fizz on arrival and three courses.
- Wintering Well with Suzy Reading — One-night residency with workshop, light lunch, candlelit dinner and morning walk through the Trossachs with breathwork.
- Garden Parties on the lawn — Sun-soaked garden parties on the lawn.
- Yoga Days surrounded by nature — Restorative yoga days surrounded by nature.
Amenities
- Cosy library
- Bar
- Lawn for garden parties
- Riverside grounds
- Wedding open evenings and exclusive-use weddings
- Residential packages with overnight stay
- Wellness retreats
- Two restaurants
- Drawing room afternoon tea
- Fishing on the hotel's own stretch of the River Teith or other local rivers
Open Thackray House in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.