Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Castle

A fairytale on Loch Fyne

On the green shore of Loch Fyne, in Argyll, stands Inveraray Castle — a grand palace of grey-green stone with tall corner towers capped by cone-shaped roofs. It looks less like a rugged Scottish fortress and more like a castle from a fairy tale, and that is exactly what its builders intended. Inveraray is the seat of the Dukes of Argyll, the chiefs of Clan Campbell, one of the largest and most powerful clans in the history of Scotland.

The Dukes of Argyll

For centuries the Campbells ruled vast lands across the west of Scotland from an older castle near this spot. In the eighteenth century the third Duke of Argyll decided to sweep that medieval castle away and build something far grander and more comfortable, fit for one of the greatest noblemen of the age. At the same time he had the nearby town of Inveraray rebuilt as a neat, planned village, moved a little along the loch so that the duke could enjoy his castle and parkland in peace.

A Gothic Revival castle

The new castle was built between 1746 and 1789, which makes it one of the very first great houses in Britain raised in the "Gothic Revival" style — a new fashion for bringing back the romantic look of the Middle Ages. Its neat, symmetrical front, round corner towers and pointed windows were designed to seem ancient and noble, even though the building was brand new. The unusual grey-green stone was quarried across the loch, giving Inveraray its distinctive colour.

The great hall of weapons

One of the most astonishing sights inside is the armoury hall, the tallest room in the castle, where the walls are covered from floor to ceiling with hundreds of weapons — muskets, pole-arms, swords and pikes — arranged in beautiful sunburst patterns. They are a reminder that the Dukes of Argyll could once summon whole armies of clansmen to their banner. In more recent times the castle found a new audience around the world when it appeared as "Duneagle Castle" in the television series Downton Abbey.

Visiting today

The Dukes of Argyll still live at Inveraray, but visitors can tour its splendid rooms, marvel at the glittering hall of weapons, and stroll through the gardens and grounds beside Loch Fyne. With its fairytale towers reflected in the water and the Highland hills rising behind, Inveraray is a perfect picture of how a great Scottish family chose to live in style — a castle built not for war, but for grandeur.