Armadale Castle

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Armadale Castle

Inverness-shire

Armadale Castle 5.jpg
Armadale Castle
Location
Grid reference: NG64020469
Location: 57°4’21"N, 5°53’42"W
History
Information
Condition: Part ruined
Owned by: The Clan Donald Lands Trust
Website: armadalecastle.com

Armadale Castle is a ruined country house in Armadale on the Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire. It was for generations the seat of the Macdonalds of Sleat. Today it is owned by the Clan Donald Lands Trust.

A mansion house was first built here around 1790. In 1815 a Scottish baronial style mock-castle, intended for show rather than defence, designed by James Gillespie Graham, was built next to the house.

In 1855, part of the house was destroyed by fire and was afterwards replaced by a central wing, designed by David Bryce.

Since 1925 the castle, abandoned by the Macdonald of Sleat, has fallen into ruin. In 1971 these lands came up for sale following the death of Alexander Godfrey Macdonald, 7th Lord Macdonald and High Chief of Clan Donald. In response, a charitable trust, the Clan Donald Lands Trust, was founded by Clan Donald members worldwide in order to buy and preserve some of these lands. The Trust is a registered charity.[1]

The gardens around the castle have been maintained, and are now home to the Clan Donald Centre, which operates the 'Museum of the Isles'.

Outside links

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("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Armadale Castle)

References

  1. The Clan Donald Lands Trust - Registered Charity no. SC007862 at the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator