Ardkinglas House | |
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Location | near Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, Scotland |
Built | 1906-1908 |
Architect | Sir Robert Lorimer |
Architectural style(s) | Scottish baronial style |
Owner | David Sumsion |
Listed Building – Category A | |
Designated | 20 July 1971 |
Reference no. | LB13786 |
Official name | Ardkinglas and Strone |
Designated | 1 July 1987 |
Reference no. | GDL00022 |
Ardkinglas House is a Category A listed country house on the Ardkinglas Estate in Argyll, Scotland. [1] The estate lies on the eastern shore of Loch Fyne, and the house is located close to the village of Cairndow. Dating back to the 14th century and originally a Campbell property, the estate now covers more than 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) of rolling hills and landscaped parkland. The centre of the estate was Ardkinglas Castle until this was replaced by a new house in the 18th century. This house was itself replaced by the present Ardkinglas House in the early 20th century, designed by Sir Robert Lorimer for Sir Andrew Noble. [1] It remains the property of the Noble family, and is open to the public on a limited basis. The woodland gardens are open all year round. [2]
Ardkinglas Castle is thought to date from the 14th century. It was built in the form of a quadrangle around an inner courtyard measuring 98 feet (30 m) in each direction. There were large turrets on three of the corners, to the front there was a large gate tower with two flanking defensive turrets. By 1769 the castle was reported destroyed.
James VI of Scotland made James Campbell of Ardkinglas comptroller and in February 1584 "general searcher" of customs of the West Sea, with powers to apprehend ships with forbidden cargoes. [3]
On 23 March 1679, Colin Campbell of Ardkinglas was made a baronet. His son Sir James Campbell, 2nd baronet, (died 1752) sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1702 and, following the Union of Scotland and England, in the Westminster Parliament until 1741. [4] He purchased the Dunderave estate around 1700, and was succeeded by his grandson, Lt.Col. Sir James Livingston-Campbell, son of his eldest daughter Helen.
During the 18th century the Campbells commissioned designs for a new house at Ardkinglas from some of the leading architects of the day, including Colen Campbell, Robert Adam and James Playfair. None of these designs were built, and the house constructed in 1795 has been described as "rather dull". [5] This house was destroyed by fire in 1831 and, despite further designs from architects including William Burn and Alexander Binning, the family moved into the stable block which was adapted as the main house.[ citation needed ]
In 1810, when Sir Alexander Livingston-Campbell died, Ardkinglas was inherited by his cousin James Callander of Craigforth, who subsequently changed his name to Campbell and adopted the style of a baronet, although he was not entitled to do so.[ citation needed ]
In 1905 Ardkinglas was purchased by Sir Andrew Noble, an expert on ballistics and gunnery who was chairman of Lord Armstrong's artillery works in Newcastle. Ardkinglas House was designed by architect Sir Robert Lorimer, and construction began in May 1906. Although Noble's deadline for completion of 1 August 1907 was not met, the house was fully completed in 21 months. The house was lit with electricity powered from a hydro-electric plant on the estate. [5]
John Noble inherited the estate in 1972, and began farming oysters in the loch. In 1988 he opened the first Loch Fyne Oyster Bar, now a national chain. The house has been used as a filming location for television series, including The Crow Road, The Diplomat , [6] and films including The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep . It is open to the public, although not on a regular basis. The house's original "Butler's Quarters" can be rented out.[ citation needed ]
The Woodland Gardens, dating back to the 18th century, are open year-round with views of the exterior of Ardkinglas House and its backdrop onto Loch Fyne. The Arboretum was planted in the 1860s-70s by the Callander family and has some specimens of large trees. One of these trees a Grand Fir (Abies grandis) held the record for many years as "The Tallest tree in Britain", another tree a Silver Fir (Abies alba) is described as the "Mightiest Conifer in Europe" with a trunk girth of over 31 feet (9.4 m). [7]
Overview | |
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Locale | Scotland |
Dates of operation | 1866–late 1890s |
Successor | Abandoned |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 12 in (305 mm) |
Length | 1 mile |
The Ardkinglas Railway was a 12 in (305 mm) narrow gauge estate railway built to serve the Ardkinglas Estate, former seat of Sir James Campbell, 2nd Baronet, of Ardkinglass, on the shores of Loch Fyne. The railway ran along the shore of the loch from a boat house at Caspian. The railway was built as a transportation system for the estate and as a garden toy for the estate's 17th Laird, George Livingston-Campbell-Callander. A single steam locomotive operated the line; rolling stock consisted of a two-seat open passenger carriage and several wagons. The railway had been dismantled by 1897 and the equipment sold. The boiler from the locomotive was still in situ on the beach at Tayvallich on Loch Sween until the early 1950s.[ citation needed ]
Duke of Argyll is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful noble families in Scotland. As such, they played a major role in Scottish history throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The Duke of Argyll also holds the hereditary titles of chief of Clan Campbell and Master of the Household of Scotland.
Inveraray Castle is a country house near Inveraray in the county of Argyll, in western Scotland, on the shore of Loch Fyne, Scotland's longest sea loch. It is one of the earliest examples of Gothic Revival architecture.
Cowal is a rugged peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. It is connected to the mainland to the north, and is bounded by Loch Fyne to the west, by Loch Long and the Firth of Clyde to the east, and by the Kyles of Bute to the south.
Loch Fyne, is a sea loch off the Firth of Clyde and forms part of the coast of the Cowal Peninsula. Located on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It extends 65 kilometres (40 mi) inland from the Sound of Bute, making it the longest of the sea lochs in Scotland. It is connected to the Sound of Jura by the Crinan Canal. Although there is no evidence that grapes have grown there, the title is probably honorific, indicating that the river, Abhainn Fìne, was a well-respected river.
Kilchurn Castle is a ruined structure on a rocky peninsula at the northeastern end of Loch Awe, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was first constructed in the mid-15th century as the base of the Campbells of Glenorchy, who extended both the castle and their territory in the area over the next 150 years. After the Campbells became Earls of Breadalbane and moved to Taymouth Castle, Kilchurn fell out of use and was in ruins by 1770. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland and is open to the public in summer.
Sir Andrew Noble, 1st Baronet was a Scottish physicist noted for his work on ballistics and gunnery.
Clan Macnaghten, Scottish Gaelic: MacNeachdain, is a Scottish clan.
Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothic Revival styles, and for promotion of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Benmore Botanic Garden is a large botanical garden situated in Strath Eachaig at the foot of Beinn Mhòr, on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. The gardens are on the west side of the A815 road from Dunoon, between the Holy Loch and Loch Eck, and include footbridges across the River Eachaig. It is one of the sites of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Callendar House is a mansion set within the grounds of Callendar Park in Falkirk, central Scotland. During the 19th century, it was redesigned and extended in the style of a French Renaissance château fused with elements of Scottish baronial architecture. However, the core of the building is a 14th-century tower house.
Taynuilt is a large village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland located at the western entrance to the narrow Pass of Brander.
Sir James Campbell, 2nd Baronet of Ardkinglass, was a British Army officer and Scottish politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1703 to 1707 and in the British House of Commons from 1707 to 1741.
Dunderave Castle is an L-plan castle built in the 16th century as the Scottish seat of the MacNaughton clan.
Cairndow is a coastal hamlet on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. The town lies between the A83 road and the head of Loch Fyne.
James Henry Callander, of Craigforth, Stirlingshire, was a Scottish politician.
Inverneill House is a country house in Argyll, western Scotland. It stands on the west shore of Loch Fyne, around 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Lochgilphead. Although the house is not listed, the walled gardens and mausoleum on the estate are protected as category B listed buildings.
Sir James Campbell was a Scottish officer of the British Army, and author of Memoirs of Sir James Campbell of Ardkinglas, written by Himself. Until 1810 he was known as James Callander. While not a baronet, as he claimed, he used the title "Sir". Campbell was 5th Laird of Craigforth and 15th Laird of Ardkinglas.
Puck's Glen is a river-formed ravine on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland, with a popular scenic walking trail beside the Eas Mòr stream. In 2020 the glen and adjoining trails were closed temporarily due to COVID-19 restrictions, issues of stability of the gorge, and felling of trees infected by larch disease.
Adam Livingston, was a Scottish soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1772 to 1780.
Sir Colin Campbell, 1st Baronet, of Ardkinglass, Argyllshire, was a Scottish politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1693 to 1702.