Rosneath House is a former neoclassical stately home in Dunbartonshire, now in Argyll and Bute. It was constructed as a secondary seat of the Dukes of Argyll. The house was of note as both the home of Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll and as the military base where Operation Torch was planned. After the Second World War, the house was left in decay and has been demolished in 1961.
The site is on the Rosneath Peninsula, looking over the Gare Loch to Helensburgh.
A castle had stood on the site since at least the 12th century. It was built on a rock outcrop overlooking Castle Bay. The building was attacked by William Wallace while under English control. [1]
In 1490 Rosneath Castle was gifted by King James IV to Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll. Through him it eventually passed to John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll who died in 1743. His widow decided to vacate the building. When his brother, Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, visited the property in 1744 he found it an empty shell and decided to rescue the structure. He commissioned William Adam to draw up plans, but due to the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 plans were put on hold and not until 1757 was the castle ready for reoccupation. [1]
In the 1780s the castle was remodelled in the French fashion on its interior with designs by Robert Mylne. [2]
By 1800 it was in the hands of John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll. On 30 May 1802, while the Duke was absent visiting Ardincaple Castle, the castle was destroyed in a fire. [1]
The Duke decided to rebuild the property further inland than the original castle, on a flatter plateau, enabling a far larger and more formal mansion, as was the fashion of the day. The Duke returned to Robert Mylne but died in 1806 before any plans were realised. His heir, the Marquess of Lorne, chose to employ his own architects to continue the project, and used Alexander Nasmyth in conjunction with Joseph Bonomi the Elder, which was further complicated by the death of Bonomi in 1808. Bonomi before his death added an optimistic plaque, describing the project as the "Lornian Palace". [2]
For this reason and reasons of expense, the envisaged house was never fully realised. Work was halted in 1810 and the interiors of those sections completed was not in place until 1820. It was of unusual plan form, with a wide central corridor along his whole width. The broad plan was two storeys in height with a projecting colonnade on its north side. The main feature on the south side was a central circular tower of four storeys. It had a subterranean street leading to a service courtyard. [1]
In 1871 the then Marquess of Lorne married Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, Louise, thereafter known as Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll and the house was then treated more as a palace. On her husband's death in 1914 Rosneath became her Dower House. During the First World War she allowed the surplus rooms to be used by convalescing officers. [3]
The princess lived until 1939 but was childless. Her death precipitated the sale of the contents by auction in 1940. The house's strategic location brought a temporary reprieve and the building was occupied by military forces as a command centre, and was the location of the important meeting between Churchill, Eisenhower and Montgomery to negotiate Operation Torch: the invasion of North Africa. [4] [5]
After the war its scenic location brought about its use as a caravan park but the house itself was left to decay, and worries of children playing in the derelict structure caused its demolition in 1961. The house was dramatically blown up using 200lb of gelignite. Only two Adam fireplaces were deemed worthy of salvage. [6]
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.
John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, known by the courtesy title Marquess of Lorne, by which he was known between 1847 and 1900, was a British nobleman who was Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. He was the husband of Princess Louise, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. He was the first president of Rangers Football Club, thanks to his Argyll ties to the original founders of the football club.
Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
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George John Douglas Campbell, 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll, was a Scottish polymath and Liberal statesman. He made a significant geological discovery in the 1850s when his tenant found fossilized leaves embedded among basalt lava on the Island of Mull. He also helped to popularize ornithology and was one of the first to give a detailed account of the principles of bird flight in the hopes of advancing artificial aerial navigation. His literary output was extensive writing on topics varying from science and theology to economy and politics. In addition to this, he served prominently in the administrations of Lord Aberdeen, Lord Palmerston, John Russell and William Gladstone.
Torquhil Ian Campbell, 13th and 6th Duke of Argyll, styled as Earl of Campbell before 1973 and as Marquess of Lorne between 1973 and 2001, is a Scottish peer.
Elizabeth Georgiana Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, was a British noblewoman and abolitionist. Born into the wealthy Sutherland-Leveson-Gower family, she was the eldest daughter of the 2nd Duke of Sutherland by his wife, the political hostess Lady Harriet Howard. In 1844 Elizabeth married George Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, eldest son and heir to the 7th Duke of Argyll. She became the Duchess of Argyll in 1847 when her husband succeeded his father.
George William Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll,, styled Earl of Campbell from 1768 to 1770 and Marquess of Lorne from 1770 to 1806, was a Scottish Whig politician and nobleman.
Rosneath is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, 2 miles northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about 2.4 miles by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited on the southern shore of the peninsula, on the Firth of Clyde.
Cove is a village on the south-west coast of the Rosneath Peninsula, on Loch Long, in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland.
Ian Campbell, 12th and 5th Duke of Argyll,, styled Marquess of Lorne between 1949 and 1973, was a Scottish peer and Chief of Clan Campbell. He was the 12th Duke of Argyll in the Peerage of Scotland, 5th Duke of Argyll in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and Lord Lieutenant of Argyll and Bute.
Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th and 4th Duke of Argyll, was a Scottish peer and the Chief of Clan Campbell. He is chiefly remembered for his unhappy marriage to, and scandalous 1963 divorce from, his third wife, Margaret Whigham.
The wedding dress of Princess Louise, Queen Victoria's sixth child and fourth daughter, was worn by her at her wedding to John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, the heir-apparent to the 8th Duke of Argyll, on 21 March 1871 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
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Rosneath Peninsula is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland, formerly in the historic county of Dunbartonshire. The peninsula is formed by the Gare Loch in the east, and Loch Long in the west, both merge with the upper Firth of Clyde.
Caroline Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, formerly Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers and Caroline Paget, Lady Paget, was the wife of Henry Paget, future Marquess of Anglesey, until their divorce in 1810, and subsequently the wife of George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll, a friend of her first husband.
Iona Mary Campbell, Duchess of Argyll was a Scottish noblewoman. She was married to the 12th Duke of Argyll from 1964 until his death in 2001, after which she was known as the Dowager Duchess of Argyll.
Rosneath naval base was a naval base, constructed on the Rosneath peninsula, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. close to the village of Rosneath. The construction of the base started in July 1941, in response to American expectations that they would be shortly entering World War II. In June 1945, the base was decommissioned, then fell into disuse and was finally closed in 1948.
Eleanor Mary Campbell, Duchess of Argyll is a British noblewoman, and Prior of the Order of St John's Priory of Scotland. A member of the Cadbury family, she is the wife of the 13th Duke of Argyll.
A Very British Scandal is a 2021 historical drama miniseries starring Claire Foy as Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and Paul Bettany as Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. While not a direct sequel or continuation, its production company, Blueprint Pictures, previously made A Very English Scandal (2018), about the Thorpe affair. A third installment A Very Royal Scandal (2024), based on the infamous Prince Andrew interview with Emily Maitlis premiered in September 2024.
