Castle in Highland

Armadale Castle is a ruined country house in Armadale, Isle of Skye. The building was built as a baronial style mock-castle in 1815, and was abandoned in 1925 and has since fallen into ruin. The estate was purchased by the Clan Donald Lands Trust in 1971.The Trust has restored the gardens and part of the Castle, created a museum and built holiday accommodation and established a visitor centre. The original building was a mansion house built in 1790 by the first Lord Macdonald. Part of this original mansion can still be seen as the white section of the building in the photos. In 1815 the building was extended to form Armadale Castle. In 1855 fire destroyed much of the original house. In 1925 the Macdonald family moved to a smaller house a few miles away, leaving the castle to fall into disrepair.

Castle Stuart is located on the Moray Firth near Inverness, about 20 minutes drive from Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. The castle was completed in 1625.The current owner, Charles Stuart, spent 15 years renovating the castle, which had been roofless, for 300 years. The castle is a tower house with two circular towers linked by a central block. Inside, the furniture has been crafted from 400-year-old oak. The castle has been fully restored and offers luxury accommodation. The entire castle or eight individual bedrooms may be reserved. Mary Queen of Scots gave the castle land to her half-brother, James Stuart in 1561, and granted him the title "Earl of Moray". Castle Stuart was finally completed in 1625 by James Stuart the 3rd Earl of Moray. When Oliver Cromwell rose to power in England, the Stuart family lost their king, Charles the First. Castle Stuart then fell into decline and became a ruin for almost 300 years. The castle is not far from Culloden Moor, where the last failed attempt to restore the exiled Stuart kings to the British throne took place. Legends The castle web site sells a book about The Mystery of Castle Stuart. The story goes that sometime long ago, the Earl of Moray was looking for someone to spend the night in Three-Turret Haunted Bedroom at the top of the East Tower to prove to everyone that it was not haunted. A local poacher took up the offer ... and was found dead in the courtyard the next morning ...

Ardtornish Castle is located on a promontory a mile south-east of the village of Lochaline, on the west coast of Scotland. The castle now in ruins was made of dressed basalt blocks. The south wall contains an arched window added during a minor restoration attempt early in the 20th century. The castle was a "hall house" and probably only two storeys high. It was fortified and defended by the rocky site. The ground floor containing the entrance at the east side has three narrow slit windows in the south wall. These are blocked but their white sandstone sills are still visible from the outside. There is a passage leading to a small latrine tower at the northwest corner. The castle was one of the main seats of the Clan Donald from the early 14th to late 15th century. Ardtornish Castle was forfeited to the Crown in 1493.and eventually given to the Clan MacLean chief of Duart Castle, who already had large tracts of land in the area. The castle was probably abandoned around the end of the seventeenth century, by which time Ardtornish had been taken over by the Campbell Earls of Argyll. Some minor restoration work was done in the late 18th century and early 19th century.

Foulis Castle is situated about 1.5 miles southwest of the village of Evanton and 4 miles north east of Dingwall in the Highland area of northern Scotland. The castle has been the seat of the Clan Munro for over eight hundred years. It is open by appointment only as it is a private residence. The present Castle dates from the middle of 18th century. The formal Georgian front features a fine double entrance stairway. The previous 16th century castle was destroyed by fire after the 1745 Jacobite uprising. Chief Sir Harry Munro rebuilt the castle incorporating the remains of the old defensive keep from the original castle. Since the Battle of Culloden had brought an end to the Highland clan system there was no need for such a defensive fort anymore. Foulis was rebuilt as a large Georgian mansion house. The semi-octagonal tower was built in 1754. The 18th century domestic buildings, coachhouses, laundry, bakehouse, stables and well, shows a strong continental influence.

Lochindorb Castle is located on the Dava Moor about 6.5 miles north-west of Grantown-on-Spey, and south Forres, in the south-eastern part of the Scottish Highlands. The castle is built on a partly man-made island in a remote loch. The castle is now in ruins and the four round towers have collapsed, although they stood up to the end of the 18th century. The main quadrangular courtyard is enclosed by a 2-metre thick wall which stands 6 metres high. The castle dates back to the 13th century, when it was originally held by the Comyns. It was later occupied by the English and was visited by Edward I in 1303 when he stayed here for 9 days. At the end of the 14th century, it was gifted by Robert II to his son Alexander Stewart the Wolf of Badenoch who was famous for the sacking of the royal burgh of Elgin and its fine cathedral. King James II ordered the castle to be demolished around 1455 after a rebellion against the king. The iron yett (gate) was moved to Cawdor Castle where it can still be seen.

Strome Castle is a ruin situated about four miles south of Lochcarron village on the shore of Loch Carron on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. The castle stands on a rocky bluff surrounded by steep drops to the shore and sea on three sides. All that is left of the castle today is a courtyard and the remains of a square tower. The courtyard is accessed through a gateway on the north wall. There is a also a gateway in the west wall that leads to the headland. The castle is now managed by the National Trust for Scotland. The castle was built as a tower house in the mid 15th century by the MacDonald clan and it was held by various branches of the MacDonalds. In 1539, King James V of Scotland granted the castle to the Clan MacDonald of Glengarry. In 1602, the castle was besieged by the Clan MacKenzie. The MacDonalds surrendered, and they left, the castle was demolished with explosives. The MacDonalds of Glengarry built a new castle called Invergarry Castle. In 1939, Strome Castle was given to the National Trust for Scotland. Legends It is said that while under siege, the women in the castle, while refilling the water casks in the dark, made the mistake of pouring water into the gunpowder. This compelled the defenders to surrender, and the Castle was then destroyed.

Dunvegan Castle is located at Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, off the west coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the chief of the Clan MacLeod for nearly 800 years. The castle was first opened to the public in 1933 and is one of Scotland's most popular castles. The castle has a number of important clan relics including the Fairie Flag of Dunvegan and the Dunvegan Cup. The Fairy Flag of Dunvegan is made of silk from the Middle East, and has been dated to between the 4th and 7th centuries. Visitors to the castle can experience tours of the castle, estate, take boat trips on Loch Dunvegan to see the seal colony. Dunvegan Castle may b hired for weddings. Self-catering accommodation is available on the estate. There are four shops on the site. Parts of the castle are thought to date from the ninth century. Building has been carried out in almost every century since the 1200s when the MacLeods moved in. Sir Walter Scott, Dr Johnson, Queen Elizabeth II and the Japanese Emperor Akihito have visited Dunvegan Castle.

Cawdor Castle is a tower house in the parish of Cawdor, about 10 miles east of Inverness and 5 miles southwest of Nairn. The castle has evolved over 600 years. Additions made in the 17th century were all built with slated roofs and crow-stepped gables. The castle has beautiful gardens, including a walled garden originally planted in the 17th Century. Cawdor Castle is open to the public from Spring through Autumn. The earliest documented date for the castle is 1454, although some parts of the castle have been dated to about 1380. The original castle was a large tower (or keep). The castle was built around a small, living holly tree, the remains of which can still be seen in the lowest level of the tower. Significant additions made to the castle in the 17th century and 19th century. The iron yett here was brought from nearby Lochindorb Castle around 1455 after Lochindorb had been forfeited by the Earl of Moray. The Arts Cawdor Castle is best known for its connection to William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. However the castle was built many years after the events of the play.

Inverlochy Castle Hotel near Torlundy north of Fort William is a magnificent Victorian country house hotel of 1863, set within twenty-five acres of wooded grounds beneath Ben Nevis in the Highland region and consistently ranked among Scotland's finest country house hotels. Built for Lord Abinger and operated as a luxury hotel since 1969, the building is a confident Victorian Baronial mansion with turrets and castellated features providing grand accommodation in one of the most dramatically situated settings of any hotel in Britain. The hotel holds Royal Warrant, Queen Victoria having stayed at the original estate in 1873 and describing the surroundings as one of the most beautiful spots she had ever seen. The combination of world-class accommodation, exceptional cuisine and the outstanding natural scenery of Lochaber makes Inverlochy Castle Hotel a definitive Highland luxury destination.

The Castlehill Flagstone Trail is a geological and industrial heritage walking route located near the village of Castletown in Caithness, the far northeastern corner of mainland Scotland. This trail takes visitors through a landscape shaped by centuries of flagstone quarrying, an industry that once dominated this coastal region and exported its distinctive Caithness paving stones across the British Empire and beyond. The trail offers a fascinating glimpse into an industry that transformed the local economy and landscape, while also providing insights into the remarkable geology that made this area so valuable for stone extraction. The flagstone industry in Caithness reached its peak during the Victorian era, when the smooth, easily-split sedimentary rocks of the region became the paving material of choice for cities across Britain and the world. The Old Red Sandstone deposits found here, laid down during the Devonian period approximately 370 million years ago, possess unique properties that made them ideal for splitting into thin, flat slabs perfect for paving streets, floors, and roofing. At its height in the mid-19th century, the Castletown area was home to dozens of quarries employing hundreds of men who worked in grueling conditions to extract and prepare the stone for export. The harbor at Castletown was purpose-built to ship these flagstones to destinations as far afield as London, Paris, Melbourne, and New York. Walking the Castlehill Flagstone Trail today reveals a landscape marked by the remnants of this once-thriving industry. Abandoned quarry pits, some now filled with water and others showing the distinctive horizontal bedding planes of the flagstone layers, dot the coastal terrain. The trail winds past spoil heaps, the remains of processing areas, and traces of the tramways that once connected quarries to the harbor. The physical character of the area is striking, with the grey-brown flagstone exposed in geometric patterns where it has been quarried, contrasting with the rough grassland and heather that has reclaimed much of the former industrial landscape. On clear days, the sound of seabirds mingles with the ever-present wind that sweeps in from the Pentland Firth, while waves crash against the rocky shoreline below. The surrounding landscape is quintessentially Caithness, characterized by low-lying, largely treeless moorland that extends toward dramatic coastal cliffs. The area sits on the northern coast of Scotland, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea through the turbulent waters of the Pentland Firth. The nearby village of Castletown itself retains much of its character as a former quarrying community, with many buildings constructed from the local flagstone. The Castle of Mey, the former holiday residence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, lies just a few miles to the east, while the town of Thurso, the most northerly town on the British mainland, is approximately five miles to the west. Visitors to the Castlehill Flagstone Trail can expect a moderately easy walk across relatively flat terrain, though the coastal location means weather conditions can change rapidly and wind is often a significant factor. The trail is best accessed from Castletown village, which can be reached by road from Thurso along the A836. The area is served by limited public transport, so most visitors arrive by car. The North Coast 500 scenic route, which has brought increased tourism to this remote corner of Scotland in recent years, passes nearby, making the trail an accessible stopping point for those touring the Highlands. The trail is typically walked in spring through autumn when daylight hours are longer, though winter visits offer their own stark beauty and dramatic seascapes. One of the most fascinating aspects of the flagstone industry commemorated by this trail is the skill required to extract and work the stone. Quarrymen developed an intimate knowledge of the rock, learning to read the subtle variations in the stone that determined where it would split cleanly and where it might fracture unpredictably. The stone was extracted using a technique that involved driving wedges into natural fissures in the rock, then carefully levering out large slabs that could weigh several tons. These were then split into thinner pieces using specialized tools and techniques passed down through generations of quarrymen. The best quality flagstone could be split to thicknesses of just an inch or two while maintaining structural integrity. The decline of the Caithness flagstone industry began in the early 20th century as concrete and other materials became more economical for paving and construction. The last of the major quarries closed in the 1950s and 1960s, though small-scale extraction continued for specialist applications and restoration work. Today, there has been a modest revival of interest in Caithness flagstone for high-quality paving and architectural projects, valued for its durability, natural appearance, and historical authenticity. The trail serves as both a memorial to the thousands of workers who labored in these quarries and an outdoor museum preserving the physical evidence of this important chapter in Scottish industrial heritage. The geological significance of the site extends beyond its industrial history. The rock formations visible along the trail provide an excellent example of lacustrine sedimentation, the stone having been deposited in ancient lake systems during the Devonian period. Fossils, though not abundant, can occasionally be found in the flagstone layers, including remains of primitive fish and plant material that offer glimpses into the prehistoric environment. The horizontal bedding planes so valued by quarrymen also create a distinctive aesthetic in the landscape, with stepped exposures revealing the layer-cake structure of the sedimentary sequence.

Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rùm in the Inner Hebrides is a remarkable Edwardian hunting lodge built between 1897 and 1902 for Sir George Bullough, a wealthy Lancashire textile magnate, and represents one of the most extraordinary examples of Edwardian excess in Scotland. The castle was constructed with no expense spared using red sandstone shipped from Arran, and its interior contained electric lighting, air conditioning, an orchestrion mechanical organ and baths with Jacuzzi-type systems years before such technology was common. The island of Rùm is now a National Nature Reserve managed by NatureScot, with the castle maintained within the reserve. The island is accessible by ferry from Mallaig and is a remote and rewarding destination for wildlife watching, with golden eagles, red deer and the remnant native ponies among the wildlife highlights.

Moniack Castle near Beauly in the Highland region is a sixteenth-century Fraser family tower house now celebrated as the home of Moniack Mhor, Scotland's Creative Writing Centre, which offers residential writing courses and retreats in an atmospheric historic building. The castle has been operated as a winery producing elderflower, sloe and various country wines and liqueurs for many decades, and the combination of historic building, creative writing retreat and country wine production gives Moniack a distinctive and slightly eccentric character. The surrounding landscape of the Beauly Firth and the Black Isle is one of the most attractive in the eastern Highlands, and the nearby town of Beauly with its ruined Valliscaulian priory provides additional historical interest in this quietly scenic part of Inverness-shire.

Mingary Castle on the Ardnamurchan peninsula is a thirteenth-century coastal castle built for the Clan MacIain MacDonald, whose fortress controlled the Sound of Mull and the Ardnamurchan peninsula from a dramatically situated clifftop above the sea. The castle has been substantially restored in the twenty-first century and now operates as a luxury accommodation and events venue within the ancient walls, combining medieval heritage with high-quality hospitality in one of the most remote settings of any castle in Scotland. The Ardnamurchan peninsula is the most westerly point of the British mainland, and the combination of the restored castle, the dramatic coastal scenery and the exceptional wildlife of the peninsula including golden eagles, otters and marine mammals makes Mingary a destination of genuine distinction in the Scottish Highlands.

Inverness Castle sits on a cliff overlooking the River Ness, in Inverness, Scotland. The red sandstone castle now on the site was built in 1836 by architect William Burn. Today, it houses Inverness Sheriff Court. The Drum Tower houses an exhibition of castle history and is open daily in the summer season. The castle itself is not open to the public. There has been a castle at this site for many centuries. The first castle on the site was built in the 11th century. The first Inverness Castle was partially destroyed by King Robert I of Scotland and a replacement castle was destroyed in the 15th century. In 1548 another castle with tower was completed by George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly. The castle was taken over by the Clan Munro and Clan Fraser who supported Mary Queen of Scots in 1562. In 1725 the Castle was extended and reinforced by General George Wade after the initial early Jacobite Uprisings. In 1745 when the second major Jacobite Uprisings began Inverness Castle was defended against the Jacobites by the Clan Ross who supported the British government. Inverness Castle fell soon after to the Jacobite troops under Bonnie Prince Charlie, who destroyed it with explosives.

Achnacarry Castle stands on the western shore of Loch Arkaig in the Great Glen of the Scottish Highlands, roughly seven miles northeast of the village of Gairlochy and accessible by a single-track road through some of the most dramatic forested landscape in Britain. It is the ancestral seat of Clan Cameron, one of the most storied Jacobite clans in Scottish history, and has been the home of the Chiefs of Clan Cameron — the MacSorlies of Lochiel — for centuries. The castle is not open to the public as a tourist attraction in the conventional sense, as it remains a private family residence, but it draws a steady stream of visitors drawn by its extraordinary historical resonance, its connection to both Bonnie Prince Charlie and the wartime Special Operations Executive, and the sheer beauty of its setting. For those with a deep interest in Scottish history or Highland culture, it is one of the most genuinely significant private estates in Scotland. The current castle, a substantial baronial-style mansion built in 1802 by the architect James Gillespie Graham for Donald Cameron of Lochiel, replaced an earlier structure that was burned to the ground by Hanoverian forces under General William Blakeney in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden in 1746. That destruction was a deliberate act of retribution, for the Camerons of Lochiel had been among the most committed Jacobite supporters during the 1745 rising. Donald Cameron, known as "Gentle Lochiel," had actually needed some persuasion by Bonnie Prince Charlie before committing his clan to the cause, yet once pledged, the Camerons fought with distinction at Prestonpans and Culloden. After Culloden, Lochiel escaped to France, the castle was reduced to rubble, and the estate was forfeited. The family eventually recovered their lands, and the rebuilding of the castle in the early nineteenth century was an act of both practical and symbolic restoration. The castle's most remarkable twentieth-century chapter came during the Second World War, when the estate was requisitioned by the British government and became the primary training ground for No. 4 Special Training Centre, commonly known as the Commando Basic Training Centre. From 1942 onwards, thousands of Allied commandos — and later, operatives from the American Office of Strategic Services — were put through some of the most brutal and innovative military training ever devised in the hills, rivers, and forests surrounding Achnacarry. The estate's remote, rugged terrain made it ideal for this purpose. Many soldiers who trained there recalled it with a mixture of dread and pride for the rest of their lives. The Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge, a few miles to the south, stands in honour of all those who trained in this landscape, and the Commando Exhibition at the nearby Clan Cameron Museum on the estate provides detailed accounts of this period. Physically, the castle is a handsome grey stone structure built in the Scottish baronial manner, with turrets, crow-stepped gables and a commanding presence above its wooded grounds. It sits within a designed landscape of mature specimen trees, many of them enormous, which soften what might otherwise feel like a forbidding Highland fortress into something more intimate and almost romantic in atmosphere. The approach road along the River Arkaig and through the Dark Mile — a famous avenue of ancient beeches whose intertwined canopy creates an almost tunnel-like passage — is one of the great theatrical approaches to any historic estate in Scotland. The Dark Mile, or An Raon Dorcha, has its own legends, including a supposed connection to the witch-like figure of the Cailleach and to Jacobite fugitives who used it as a cover for escape. The surrounding landscape is extraordinary by any measure. Loch Arkaig itself stretches for twelve miles to the west, a long, narrow ribbon of dark water framed by steep hillsides, and is one of the least-visited and most atmospheric lochs in the Highlands. The area is rich in red deer, pine marten, golden eagle and osprey, and the forests include some of the finest surviving Caledonian pinewoods in Scotland. To the south, Ben Nevis and the Nevis range are clearly visible on clear days, and the Great Glen — running from Fort William in the south to Inverness in the north — provides a grand geographical context for the whole area. The village of Spean Bridge, about eight miles to the south, is the nearest settlement of any size and has hotels, a pub and shops. Access to the estate is managed and visitors are generally able to walk along the public road through the grounds to reach the Clan Cameron Museum and the ancient burial ground of the Cameron chiefs on the nearby island of Eilean Munde — or rather, the burial ground on the north shore of the loch adjacent to the castle. The Clan Cameron Museum, housed in a building on the estate, covers both the clan's long history and the commando training period, and is open seasonally, typically from Easter through October. The castle itself is a private home and cannot be entered, but respectful visitors exploring the estate grounds and museum are welcomed during opening hours. The best approach by road is from Gairlochy, turning north off the B8005 and following the single-track road along the River Arkaig. There is limited roadside parking near the museum. Public transport to this part of the Highlands is sparse, and a car is essentially necessary. One of the more haunting and lesser-known details associated with Achnacarry concerns the so-called Loch Arkaig Treasure — a substantial quantity of French gold, amounting to around thirty thousand Louis d'or, which was landed on the Scottish coast in 1746 to support the Jacobite cause but arrived too late to make any difference. The treasure was concealed somewhere in the hills above Loch Arkaig, and what became of it has never been fully established. Some of it was disbursed to Jacobite clan chiefs, some was apparently stolen, and some may still remain buried in the hills according to persistent local legend. The treasure became a source of bitter dispute among the Jacobite exile community in France for decades afterward, and its ultimate fate remains one of the more romantic mysteries of Scottish history. Standing at the edge of Loch Arkaig and looking west into the empty hills, it is not difficult to understand why the legend has never quite faded.