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Duncraig Castle

Scotland · 19th century

Founded
1866
Location
Highland
Coordinates
57.33803°, -5.63353°
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Duncraig Castle in Scotland
Photo: Richard Szwejkowski · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Duncraig Castle is a mansion in Lochalsh, in the west of the Scottish Highlands. A category-C listed building, it is situated in the Highland council area, east of the village of Plockton on the south shore of Loch Carron. It was built in 1866 in the Scottish baronial style, to designs by Alexander Ross, for Scottish Member of Parliament and businessman Alexander Matheson. The castle remained in the Matheson family until the 1920s, when it was sold to Sir Daniel Hamilton and his wife Margaret, who owned the neighbouring estate. The Hamiltons intended to use the castle for educational purposes in the local community, but this never came to fruition and following the outbreak of World War II, the castle was used as a naval hospital.

By the end of the war, Daniel Hamilton had died, and Margaret bequeathed the castle to the local council, which converted it for use as a home economics college for girls, operating in this capacity until its closure in 1989.

After standing derelict for more than a decade, the castle was bought by the Dobson family of England in 2002, seventeen of whom moved in. Faced with huge renovation costs, the family had several disputes, and sold their story to a television company, who produced a five-part series which aired on BBC1. In 2009, after most of the family had moved away, the Dobsons sold the castle. It was bought with the intention of converting it to a bed and breakfast, which operated for two years but then closed, as the castle remained in need of major renovation. The castle operated as a Bed and Breakfast and wedding venue in 2021 and 2022. It was sold into private ownership in late 2022 and the bed and breakfast is permanently closed.

The castle is served by Duncraig railway station, on the Kyle of Lochalsh line. This was originally opened in 1897 as a private station, and is now open to the public.

Text adapted from “Duncraig Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Duncraig Castle ranks #4,483 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #160 of the 225 mapped in Scotland. Founded 1866, it is older than 6% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 705 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,246 times in the last 60 days, more than 72% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Inverness, 86 km away. It is one of the 76 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Scottish Highlands. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.

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