Balnagown Castle
Balnagown Castle | |
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Coordinates | 57°44′58″N 4°04′50″W / 57.7494°N 4.0806°W |
Listed Building – Category B | |
Designated | 25 March 1971 |
Reference no. | LB7866 |
Designated | 1 July 1987 |
Reference no. | GDL00046 |
Balnagown Castle (also Balnagowan)(Ross Castle) is beside the village of Kildary in Easter Ross, part of the Highland area of Scotland.
There has been a castle on the site since the 14th century, although the present building was remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries.[1] It is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of Clan Ross, although from the 1970s onwards it was owned by Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed.
It is protected as a category B listed building,[1] and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.[2]
History
In the early 14th century, a castle was begun at Balnagown by
During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, David Ross, 12th of Balnagown, fought for King Charles II at the Battle of Worcester (1651), although he was captured and died in the Tower of London. The 13th laird, another David, married Anne, daughter of James Stuart, 4th Earl of Moray, in 1666.[4] David and Anne rebuilt Balnagown, as attested by a datestone of 1672 on the castle,[1] although they left no heir, and the estate passed to the Rosses of Halkhead in 1711.[2]
In 1754, Balnagown passed to another branch of the family, when it was inherited by
From his death in 1942, until 1972, the castle was unoccupied and became dilapidated. In 1972, it was purchased by Mohamed Al-Fayed, who began restoration of the house and grounds. The decoration of the castle was entrusted to the Parisian interior designer Philippe Belloir, decorator of the Parisian Ritz hotel.
References
- ^ a b c Historic Environment Scotland. "BALNAGOWN CASTLE (Category B Listed Building) (LB7866)". Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Historic Environment Scotland. "BALNAGOWN CASTLE (GDL00046)". Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 125.
- ^ "David Ross". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
External links
Media related to Balnagown Castle at Wikimedia Commons