Ardvreck Castle (Scotland)

Ardvreck Castle was built around 1490 by the MacLeods of Assynt, a branch of the MacLeod clan, which had been owned by Assynt since the beginning of the 14th century. The castle is located on a small peninsula on the north bank of Loch Assynt, which becomes an island depending on the water level. The first, quite simple building, which consisted only of a rectangular tower house, was fundamentally expanded by Donald Ban MacLeod of Assynt about a century later with a tower and surrounding walls.

Ardvreck Castle played a small role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the mid-17th century. In 1650 the loyal James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, sought refuge in Ardvreck Castle. Montrose had landed with a small army after the execution of King Charles I in Scotland to continue the fight for the rights of his son Charles II, who had made Montrose Lord Lieutenant for Scotland. He tried to mobilize the Clans in support, but was defeated by the radical Covenanters on April 27, 1650 at the Battle of Carbisdale. On the flight through the Highlands he finally surrendered on April 30, 1650 in Ardvreck Castle, as he hoped for protection from Neil MacLeod of Assynt, the then laird of Assynt. MacLeod was not present, but his wife Christine, the daughter of an opponent of Montrose, had him locked up and handed him over to the Covenanters. It is unclear whether MacLeod himself was involved in the extradition. Montrose was brought to Edinburgh and executed on May 21, 1650.

View from the west end of the peninsula to Ardvreck Castle, in the background to the left the ruins of Calda House
The MacLeods lost Ardvreck Castle a few years later after Neil MacLeod was viewed with suspicion by the new government and finally regarded as a rebel due to the extradition of the Marquess of Montrose after the re-establishment of the kingdom by General Monck in 1660. In 1672 the Seaforths of MacKenzie, a branch of the MacKenzie clan, who had previously purposely bought promissory notes from the MacLeods, conquered the castle after a two-week siege and took possession of it. The MacKenzies replaced the uncomfortable castle in 1726 with Calda House, a large modern mansion a few hundred meters next to Ardvreck Castle on the north bank of Loch Assynt on today's A837, which, however, fell victim to a fire a few years later in 1737. The MacKenzies, who were also viewed with suspicion by the government as supporters of the Jacobites and were financially in dire straits, had previously put Calda House up for sale. The house was reportedly set on fire to prevent it from being taken over by the Sutherland family and the Earl of Sutherland. In 1745 the MacKenzies supported the last uprising of the Jacobites and after the defeat in the Battle of Culloden lost their property, which was ultimately taken over by the Earl of Sutherland in 1757. Calda House was not rebuilt, its masonry used for other buildings in the area. Ardvreck Castle, whose walls had already been partially used for the construction of Calda House, finally collapsed after a lightning strike in 1795 and fell into disrepair.

Ardvreck Castle and its surroundings remained in the possession of the Earl of Sutherland until the 20th century. Between 2003 and 2004, the ruins of Ardvreck Castle and Calda House were secured and renovated by the Historic Assynt Trust.