Historic Buildings of Argyllshire, Scotland

Now Argyll and Bute

See also

Historic Buildings of Buteshire

Historic Building of Britain and Ireland - Main Page

Image right - Kilchurn Castle

© Copyright Trevor Littlewood and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. Geograph

If you have information about any of the Buildings mentioned below please share it here. If you have ancestors linked to any of the places please add them to the project.

The object of this project is to provide information about historic buildings in the county of Argyllshire, with links to sub-projects for specific buildings as appropriate. GENi profiles of people associated with those establishments can be linked to this project and/or to individual projects where they have been set up.

Castles, Baronial and Historic houses

... in alphabetical order

❊ Indicates an available image in Gallery attached to the project

Including Manor Houses, Mansions, Stately Homes, Country houses, Estate houses, Courts, Halls, Parks and other listed buildings of historic interest

A

• Achadun Castle
• Achadunan motte
• Achallader Castle ❊ - Tower house, 16th century - built by Sir Duncan Campbell shortly before 1600. The castle was attacked and burnt by members of the Jacobite army in 1689, and is now fragmentary. Under the shadow of Beinn Achaladair, about 3.5 miles north of Bridge of Orchy, Argyll, Scotland.
• Achnakeil Castle
• Aird's Castle
• An Aros
• An Cormer motte
• Ardacheranmor motte
• Ardenslate motte
• Ardfad Castle
• Ardkinglas Castle
• Ardmaddy Castle
• Ardpatrick Castle
• Ardtornish Castle
• Aros Castle ❊ a.k.a. Dounarwyse Castle. 13th century Ruined.The castle was a stronghold of the Clan MacDougall, Clan Donald and Clan Maclean during its occupation.
• Asgog Castle
• Asknish Castle
• Auchenbreck Castle

B

• Barcaldine Castle ❊ - Tower house. 17th century. In use as a hotel. Built by Sir Duncan Campbell, 7th laird of Glenorchy, between 1601 and 1609. Minor alterations were made in the early 18th century, but during the second half of the 19th century it was derelict and roofless. Restored between 1897-1911, it is still in use as a residence and despite its varying fortunes, it remains a good example of a laird's dwelling of its period. Owner now Graham-MacDougall.
• Breachacha Castle

C

• Cairn na Burgh Beg Castle
• Cairn na Burgh More Castle
• Caisteal Dubh nan Cliar
• Caisteal na Nighinn Ruaidhe
• Caisteal nan Con, Torsa
• Calgary Castle/House ❊ - Castellated house 19th century - built by Capt Allan McAskill, who purchased land in Mull in 1817. The house was known as 'Calgary Castle' until about 1940.
• Caol Chaoruinn
• Carnasserie Castle ❊ - Tower house 16th century Ruined. Built in the 1560s by John Carswell, first protestant Bishop of the Isles, on the site of an older castle.
• Carrick Castle ❊ - Tower House, 15th century . Ruined. It stands on a rocky promontory, from which it takes its name (Carraig = rock). Allegedly a hunting seat of the Scots kings, Carrick was originally a Lamont stronghold, passing to the Campbells in the early 16th century, and later to the Murrays, Earls of Dunmore. The castle was erected by the Campbells of Lochawe, and was held for them by a series of hereditary captains, serving as an important staging post and caput for the clan during the 16th and 17th centuries. The castle was bombarded by HMS Kingfisher in 1685, during the ill-fated uprising against James VII, in which the 9th Earl of Argyll was prominently involved. The tower was badly damaged, being rendered roofless, and saw only sporadic occupation from that point onwards.
• Claig Castle ❊ - Before 17th century. Foundation Ruins. The fortress seemed as if intended to guard the mouth of the sound, and was also the prison where the Macdonalds kept their captives, and in old times was called the Castle of Claig (Monro; Anderson 1842; Pennant 1772).
• Castle Coeffin
• Clacheranmor motte
• Claig Castle
• Craignish Castle ❊ - Baronial House. 16th century or earlier. Craignish Castle was originally a simple 16th century keep, 41'9" x 33'6", with walls 7'6" thick, which has been much altered and forms part of a modern mansion, standing on a detached rock. The ground floor of the keep is vaulted, and there is a dungeon below, cut out of rock. The mansion, recently restored is 3 storeys high, with harled walls; an addition to the N, originally a long wing, now reduced, was made c. 1835.
• Cùil

D

• Drimnin Castle
• Duart Castle ❊ - 13th century. Restored Chief of Clan Maclean. Residence of the present chief of the MacLeans. Acquired by the Campbell Earls of Argyll in 1674
• Dubh Loch Castle
• Dun Ara Castle
• Dun Mor motte
• Dunach House/Farm/Estate - sub-project
• Dunans Castle ❊ - Baronial house. 1860. Partially restored. Seat of Fletchers of Dunans who acquired this part of Glendaruel estate in 1745. Built for Angus Fletcher, 4th of Dunans For over two centuries Dunans was home to the Fletcher Clan who moved to the site between 1715 and 1745 carrying with them the door of their previous home at Achallader Castle (Above) (the door was used for the private chapel and was reported missing in 1999). The building passed out of Fletcher hands in 1997 when the entire 3000 acre Dunans estate was sold by Colonel Archibald Fletcher's heirs The Category B listed castle was gutted by fire on 14 January 2001 while being run as a hotel and the building was left as a ruin. The owner Ewa Lucas-Gardener had ignored fire safety experts warnings that the building's fireplaces were unsafe and abandoned the building after the insurers refused to pay out. Now under new ownership the site, including a Victorian path network, has undergone some restoration supported by the Dunans Charitable Trust. The castle was reported to have three resident ghosts.
• Dunaverty Castle ❊ - 13th century. Ruined. The scanty remains of this castle occupy a conspicuous headland of conglomerate rock which projects into the Sound of Sanda between Dunaverty Bay and Brunerican Bay. The fortress first comes on record at the beginning of the 8th century, when it formed a principal stronghold of the race of Gabran, grandson of Fergus of Dalriada (possible link CJB). Dunaverty was seized by Scottish rebels with English help, and recovered by the Crown, in the 1240s. The most important event in the history of Dunaverty was General Leslie's siege and subsequent massacre of a royalist garrison under the command of Archibald MacDonald of Sanda in 1647. The castle was probably dismantled at the time of the Earl of Argyll's rebellion of 1685.
• Dundarave Castle ❊ - L-plan tower house. 16th century . Built in 1596 and the chief seat of the Clan MacNachtan, until it was acquired by the Campbells about 1689. It has been an L-plan, crow-stepped tower house with a large round tower at the exterior angle. The castle lay in ruins until the beginning of the 20th century when it was restored, with the addition of wings to the E and S gables. It is now occupied by Hon Mrs John Weir.
• Dunollie Castle ❊ sub-project - Tower house. 13th century. Ruined Historically, the castle is closely associated with the MacDougalls of Lorn.
• Dunoon Castle
• Dunstaffnage Castle ❊ - Castle of enceinte c. 1220 Ruined. Originally a stronghold of the MacDougalls, Dunstaffnage Castle came under the custodianship of the Campbells of Lorn in 1321 or 1322 following its capture by forces of Robert Bruce. Apart from a period in the late 14th and 15th centuries when it was held by Stewarts, it remained thereafter in the possession of the Campbells.
• Duntrune Castle ❊ - Tower house. 13th century. Still in use as a residence Chief of Clan Malcolm Argyll. It is now a private residence, and was the seat of the Campbells of Duntroon, besieged by Colkitto or his son Alasdair in the 17th century.
• Dunyvaig Castle ❊ - Courtyard castle. 13th century. Ruined. 1545 it was regranted to its former owners, the MacDonalds of Dunivaig and the Glens (Co. Antrim).

E

• Eilean Dearg Castle

F

• Fincharn Castle - 1240. Ruined. Stand on a rocky promontory near the south end of Loch Awe . The Lordship of Glassary, of which this is the manor place was erected in 1240, but the present ruin must represent a later castle. It is said to have belonged to the MacMartins or to the MacIains.
• Finlaggan Castle
• Fraoch Eilean Castle

G

• Gallanach Castle
• Garvie Castle
• Glen Strae Castle
• Glengorm Castle ❊ - see sub-project - 1860. In use as a hotel and venue
• Glensanda Castle
• Gylen Castle ❊ - Tower house. 1582. Ruined. Probably completed in 1582, it was a stronghold of the MacDougalls and was strategically situated to command the southern approaches to Oban by the narrow Sound of Kerrera. It was probably destroyed in the siege of 1647 where the MacDougalls of Dunollie were defeated by a Covenanting force under Montgomery and Argyll. The tower was subsequently sacked and burnt as can clearly be seen from the fire-damaged interior stonework.

H

I

• Innes Chonnel Castle ❊ - 13th century. Ruined. stands on a small, rocky island in Loch Awe opposite the village of Dalavich. The castle, which occupies almost all the island above the shore line, was, until the late 15th century the chief strong hold of the Campbells. The castle has little recorded history, but it is known to have been ruinous by 1806.
• Inveraray Castle ❊ - Castellated house. 1746. Still in use as a residence. Duke of Argyll. The old castle is shown in an engraving (Campbell 1885) as a tower house. The first reference to a 'manor house' here is mid-15th century.
• Island Muller Castle

J

K

• Kilberry Castle
• Kilchoman Castle
• Kilchurn Castle ❊ - Tower house. 15th century. Ruined. The South side was built at the beginning of the 16th century, and the North side, the largest and most elegant portion, was erected in 1615 by the John Campbell, 1st Earl of Breadalbane.
• Kilkerran Castle
• Kilmahew Castle See Dunbartonshire
• Kilmartin Castle ❊ - Z-plan tower house. Kilmartin Castle, a small late 16th century fortalice, is now roofless and in poor condition. It was was the residence of the rector of Kilmartin parish, being later acquired by the Campbells.
• Kilmory Castle - See Buteshire
• Kinlochaline Castle
• Knockamillie Castle

L

• Castle Lachlan ❊ (new) - Country house 1790
• Castle Lachlan ❊ (old) - Not to be confused with the newer country house of the same name above. Probably 15th Century, ruins - occupied by the Maclachlans till 1746, when attacked by a government warship; though little damage was done, its occupants fled, and it was never again occupied.
• Largie Castle
• Loch an Sgoltaire Castle
• Loch Gorm Castle
• Loch na Sreinge Castle
• Loch Tromlee Castle
• Castle Loch Heylipol
• Lochhead Castle

M

• MacEwan’s Castle
• Macharioch motte
• Mingary Castle
• Minard Castle ❊ - Castellated mansion. It incorporates a plain Georgian house built on a new site by Archibald Campbell of Knockbuy (1693-1790). The building bears the date 1775, but was not assessed for window-tax until 1784. The estate was sold in 1842 to H W Askew, who immediately began extensive alterations and additions, completed in 1848. It was owned by the Lloyd family from 1875 to 1938, and after a period of use as a hotel or guest-house it was extensively renovated in the 1970s by the present owner. Burke’s Landed Gentry (1921 ed.), 279; Knockbuy estate-ledgers in possession of Miss Campbell of Kilberry. The earlier house was assessed for 16 windows in 1748-9 (SRO, E 326/1/7, p.2), and at 14 from 1762 until 1783. In 1784, perhaps when both old and new houses were standing, the assessment was for 51 windows, but it was 30 from 1785 onwards. The name ’Knockbuy’, by which the estate and house were known until the 19th century, is derived from the hill and township of Cnoc Buidhe, 3km to the WNW.
• Moil Castle
• Mount Stuart House - see Buteshire
• Moy Castle ❊ - a.k.a. Lochbuie House. 15th century Ruined. Stands on a low rock platform at the head of Loch Buie.

N

O

• Old Inveraray Castle

P-Q

R

• Rarey Castle
• Rothesay Castle - Buteshire

S

• Saddell Castle ❊ - Tower house. 16th century. The remains of Saddell Castle, comprising a well-preserved tower-house, built between 1508 and 1512, first belonged to the Bishop of Argyll but passed to the MacDonalds and finally the Cambells; now derelict.
• Castle Shuna
• Skipness Castle ❊ - 13th century. Ruined. The main structure of the castle was built in the early 13th century by the Clan MacSween with later fortifications and other additions made to the castle through the 13th, 14th and 16th centuries. The castle was garrisoned with royal troops in 1494 during King James IV of Scotland's suppression of the Isles. Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll granted Skipness to his younger son Archibald Campbell in 1511. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in 1646, the castle was besieged by forces under the command of Alasdair Mac Colla. During the siege, Alasdair's brother, Gilleasbuig Mac Colla, was killed in August 1646. The castle was abandoned in the 17th century. The Green Lady of Skipness Castle is said to haunt the location.
• Staing Mhor
• Castle Stalker ❊ - Tower house, 15th century, Restored. Guarding the mouth of Loch Laich from the islet of Eilean an Stalcaire; built c. 1540 by the Stewarts of Appin after the subjugation of the W Isles by King James V. Passed through a number of owners and states of repair, roofless by the mid C19th. In the 1960's the castle was bought by the Allward family who embarked on a full repair and restoration. Historically closely associated with the Stewarts and Campbells.
• Strachur motte
• Strachurmore motte
• Stronmilchan
• Castle Sween - 12th century. Ruined. probably built in the mid-12th century (S Piggott and W D Simpson 1970). Beseiged by Robert the Bruce, and was finally destroyed by Sir Alexander Macdonald in 1647. (S Piggott and W D Simpson 1970; W D Simpson 1967; J G Dunbar 1966). The original simple enclosure castle as occupied by the MacSweens until the mid 13th century may have featured some form of tower-like structure in the NE corner of the enclosure. The site was then extensively remodelled under the Stewart Earls of Menteith, who built two towers outside the W wall of the primary enclosure, and a stone-built N range inside (c.1262 to 1362). When the site was later occupied by the MacNeills of Gigha on behalf of the Lords of the Isles, a substantial E range with first floor hall, was built within the courtyard, to compliment the new NE or 'Macmillans Tower' during the 15th century. Finally, with the discovery of a series of kiln-like structures and ancillary sheds and compounds, it was evident that up to the end of its active life, under the Earls of Argyll c.1650, the E courtyard was largely cleared of major buildings and the area given over to industrial usage, probably metal working. http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/39028/details/castle+sween/

T

• Tangy Loch
• Tarbert Castle ❊ - Pre-13th century. Located on the southern shore of East Loch Tarbert, at Tarbert, at the north end of Kintyre. Tarbert Castle was a strategic royal stronghold during the Middle Ages and one of three castles at Tarbert. The castle overlooks the harbour and although pre 14th century in construction, the tower dates back to 1494 and the visit of James IV to the Western Highlands. In 712, Tarbert was burned by King Selbach mac Ferchair of Cenél Loairn and of Dál Riata and in 731 by his son, Dúngal mac Selbaig. King Edward II of England handed control of the castle to the Scottish King John II de Balliol in 1292. A fortified structure was built in Tarbert during the 13th century. It was reinforced with the addition of an outer bailey and towers in the 1320s by Robert the Bruce, to protect it against the Lords of the Isles. A tower house was added in the 16th century, which is the most noticeable part of the remains. The castle was captured from John MacDonald of Islay, Lord of the Isles by James IV of Scotland as part of his campaign to destroy the power of the Lords of the Isles in 1494. In 1687 the castle was involved in another skirmish when Walter Campbell of Skipness Castle seized it as a stronghold for Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll as part of actions in support of the Monmouth Rebellion in England. There are only a couple of standing walls left and they are considered unstable. The castle has a very commanding view of the water approaches.
• Torosay Castle ❊ - Baronial house. 1858. Unoccupied residence completed in 1858 for John Campbell, replacing Achnacroish House. Sold to Arbuthnot Charles Guthrie 1865.
• Torrisdale Castle ❊ - 1815. In use as a residence - Built for General MacAlister
• Castle Toward ❊ Built in 1820 replaced a late medieval castle, which was home of the Clan Lamont. In the Second World War it served as HMS Brontosaurus, and after the war it was sold to Glasgow Corporation. It was used as an outdoor education facility until closure in 2009. A local group, the South Cowal Community Development Company, launched a community buyout of the castle in 2013. The original Toward Castle dates from the 15th century, and was owned by the Clan Lamont until 1809. The castle was extended in the 17th century, but was abandoned after an attack by the Clan Campbell in 1646.

U-V-W

• Wester Kames Castle - See Buteshire

X-Y-Z

References and Sources

Argyllshire Specific

• http://www.mull-historical-society.co.uk/daily-life/castles-fortifi...
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_castles_in_Argyll_and_Bute
  

General

• http://www.stravaiging.com/history/castles/county/#sthash.Xn3ZSCEQ....
• http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Main/HomePage
• http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
• http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_houses_in_the_United_K...
• http://www.britainsfinest.co.uk/historichouses/
• http://www.britainexpress.com/Where_to_go_in_Britain/historic_house...
• http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/
• Historic Houses Association - represents 1,500 houses in the UK
• Hudson's Historic Houses and Gardens - UK - guidebook of over 2,000 houses open to the public
• The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses - database of over 7,000 houses
• Lost Heritage - A Memorial to the Lost Country Houses of England - list of over 1,700 houses
• National Trust for Historic Preservation - online database of historic houses in the United State
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Houses_Association - http://www.hha.org.uk/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Houses_of_England

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