Amhuinnsuidhe Castle | |
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Former names | Fincastle |
General information | |
Architectural style | Scottish baronial architecture |
Ordnance Survey | NB 04956 07806 |
Year(s) built | 1864–1867 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | David Bryce |
Designations | Category A listed |
Amhuinnsuidhe Castle is a large 19th-century private country house on Harris, one of the Western Isles of Scotland. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971 [1] and is now operated as a hotel and shooting estate.
Originally named Fincastle, the house was built in the Scottish baronial style by architect David Bryce in 1864–1867 for Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore (styled Viscount Fincastle until 1845), whose grandfather George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore had purchased the island in 1834. J M Barrie found inspiration for his play Mary Rose while staying at the castle in 1912 and visiting the nearby Loch Voshimid, "where we found Mary Rose". [1] In 2003, Amhuinnsuidhe Castle Estate purchased the castle and the fishing rights, while the North Harris Estate was transferred into community ownership. [2] The castle is now operated as a venue for fishing, shooting parties, weddings and corporate events. [3]
In 2024 the house was used as a film location for a Gaelic language four-part television drama, An t-Eilean. [4]
The house is squeezed into a narrow level space between the ocean and the hill rising behind the house and both have to be restrained by walls in front and behind. The lack of level ground is probably why the main road skirts the front of the house, very unusual for a country house. It is built of imported freestone, stugged and snecked ashlar; rubbled masonry is used at the rear. The castellated four-storey main block has a corner turret and rounded corners. Its eastwards three-storey extension has a first-storey oriel window with flanking bartizans. The flanking blocks are only three storeys high and the western block is recessed from the road. The eastern block is even with the main block, but it connected to the main block by a deeply recessed range, possibly to suggest a 17th-century addition to an older house. Gables are crowstepped throughout. [1] [5]
The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles, sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides.
Raasay sometimes the Isle of Raasay is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is famous for being the birthplace of Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean, an important figure in the Scottish Renaissance.
Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland.
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Leverburgh is the second largest village, after Tarbert, in Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Leverburgh is within the parish of Harris. In 1971 it had a population of 223.
Alexander Edward Murray, 8th Earl of Dunmore, known by the courtesy title Viscount Fincastle until 1907, was a Scottish peer, soldier and politician.
Tarbert is the main community on Harris in the Western Isles of Scotland. The name means "isthmus", "crossing point" or "portage", in Gaelic. The isthmus, between the sea lochs West Loch Tarbert and East Loch Tarbert, joins south Harris to north Harris and Lewis. In 1981 it had a population of 503.
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Amhuinnsuidhe is a settlement on Harris, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The settlement is also within the parish of Harris. Amhuinnsuidhe is centred on the country house, Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, which is adjacent to the B887 road.
Catherine Murray, Countess of Dunmore, was an English peeress and promoter of Harris Tweed.
Birse Castle is located in the Forest of Birse, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Originally a square tower house, it was rebuilt in the first decade of the 20th century into an L-plan structure. The 1930 addition of a new wing gave it a Z-plan. The building was designated a category B listed building in 1971.
Ardvourlie Castle is a 19th-century country house on Harris, one of the Western Isles off the north-west coast of Scotland. The house was built beside Loch Seaforth in 1863 as a hunting lodge on the North Harris Estate, for Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore, the then owner of the island. It is a category B listed building.
John Murray, 2nd Earl of Dunmore, also Viscount of Fincastle and Lord Murray of Blair, Moulin and Tullimet, was a Scottish peer and British Army general.
Events from the year 1865 in Scotland.
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Plunton Castle is a ruined L-plan tower house between Kirkandrews and Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built around 1575 for the Lennoxes of Plunton, it passed by marriage to the Murrays of Broughton in the late 17th century. It was still inhabited in 1684, when it was described by Reverend Symson in his Large Description of Galloway as "a good strong house", but by 1838, when it was painted by George Colomb, it had been abandoned and had fallen into a ruinous condition.
Earlstoun Castle, sometimes spelled Earlston Castle, is a derelict tower house near St John's Town of Dalry in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built in the late sixteenth century, it was home to members of the Gordon family, including William Gordon of Earlston who was killed at the battle of Bothwell Bridge. It is unusual for a tower house of its age for its lack of defensive arrangements: it has no gun loops, its roof is without a parapet or corner turrets, and it lies in open ground without natural defences.