Featured Photo: Kilchurn Castle, Scotland

Of all the castles I saw on my October 2010 trip to Scotland, one of the most evocative was Kilchurn Castle in Argyll. Part of that was due to castle itself, a picturesque ruin situated on a marshy tongue of land jutting into Loch Awe. Part of it was due to the weather, a grey day with mist that hovered over the hills ringing the loch and skies that turned the water’s surface into a perfect mirror. My guidebook told me the castle was accessible only by boat and only during the summer months, but thanks to a tip from a local, Frieda Bos of About Argyll Walking Holidays, I found a parking area just off the main road and a trail out to the ruin. Fortunately the boat dock jutted out just far enough into the loch for me to get this shot of the castle and reflection.

Kilchurn Castle was built in the mid-1400s by Sir Colin Campbell, the first Lord of Glenorchy, and was expanded over subsequent centuries. The land it stands on was originally an island but became connected to the mainland when the water level of Loch Awe was lowered in the 19th century. In the 1690s Sir John Campbell, first Earl of Breadalbane, added a barracks wing to house 200 troops – the first purpose-built barracks in Scotland. During the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745, the castle was used as a garrison for government troops.

Kilchurn Castle was finally abandoned in the 1760s following damage caused by a lightning strike. The interior is open in the summer, with wooden platforms giving access to the higher levels of the battlements, which offer spectacular views across Loch Awe.

For more about Kilchurn Castle, visit Undiscovered Scotland.