Description

The monument consists of the remains of the late seventeenth-century castle of Invergarry which was the seat of the Macdonnel Clan until it was attacked and burnt by the Duke of Cumberland in 1746. The building is situated at Invergarry, on the W bank of Loch Oich. The L-plan castle, five storeys in height, its long elevations lying SE and SW, has a rectangular stair-tower in the re-entering angle and a round stair-tower at the NE angle of the main block. The W wing is greatly reduced but the rest of the walls survive almost to wallhead level. The castle measures 18.7m NE-SW by 17.4m NW-SE overall.

The walls, constructed in a rough-hewn fine grained gneiss, vary in thickness from 0.6 to 1.5m. Most of the ashlar dressings have been robbed. The entrance doorway with its architrave moulding is in N wall of the W wing. Opposite the entrance a right angle stairway led to the first floor. The two floors above were reached by a square staircase in the re-entrant angle tower. This tower was six storeys in all, its two upper-most floors being entered from a circular projecting stair-turret (now fragmentary). The precise internal arrangements are not able to be ascertained due to the building's advanced state of decay.

The kitchen was probably located in the unvaulted ground floor, the hall was on the first floor of the main block. It is likely the N staircase gave access to private apartments above the hall. The only vaulted areas are small cellars under the stairway and rectangular tower. The entrance and cellars are provided with shot-holes. The area to be scheduled is rectilinear, measuring approximately 30m NE-SW by 25m NW-SE, and is defined as the area within the modern security fence, but excluding the fence itself, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it is a good example, albeit ruinous, of a site of defensive occupation dating from the seventeenth century which preserves evidence which, through a combination of archaeological excavation and historical research, is capable of contributing to our understanding of building design and construction and domestic and social aspects of late medieval/early modern life and culture in Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NH 30 SW 2.

MacGibbon, D. and Ross, T. (1887-92) 'The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland' Vol. 3, 620-22, Edinburgh.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland