Inveraray Castle: ‘A Fairytale Highland Home’

This week we take you on a spectacular autumn exploration to the Scottish Highlands. From royal history to ghost stories, as well as a famous Downton Abbey connection, our visit has some fun surprises in store for fans across a wide spectrum. So, join us as we make a picture-perfect trip to Inveraray Castle!

There’s something special about autumn. Perhaps it’s the symphony of colours dancing across the landscape. Or maybe it’s the fresh, crisp air and crunch of the leaves underfoot. It’s certainly a magical time to be in the Scottish Highlands. To take our autumnal experience to the next level, we visited Inveraray Castle- appropriately described as “the fairytale Highland home of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll”.

Situated in the West Highlands, near the town of Inveraray, the Castle is nestled into an exquisite landscape with the River Aray flowing by and into Loch Fyne. As I mentioned above, Inveraray Castle is home to the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. It is also the seat of Clan Campbell. The Campbells arrived in Argyll around 1220 as part of a royal expedition. Colin Mor Campbell (‘Colin The Great') was their Chief and his name ‘MacCailein Mor' is still used by the chief of the Clan Campbell, The Duke of Argyll, today.

While there has been a castle here since the 1400s, the one we see today didn’t start to take shape until the mid-1700s. Its architecture is fascinating as it features Baroque, Palladian, and Gothic Revival elements. There have been various additions and renovations over the centuries, some due to more happy occasions while others were tragic events.

In 1871, the Marquess of Lorne (later 9^th Duke of Argyll), married Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise. The glass and iron entrance porch seen here was built for their wedding. It was playfully called ‘Paddington Station’ by the locals as it was designed by Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, a collaborating architect of the decorative iron work at Paddington Station in London. Sit tight because we’ll hear a bit more about Princes Louise when we tour the Castle.

A fire ripped through Inveraray Castle in 1877. The architect, Anthony Salvin, was hired to repair it. He was responsible for the lovely conical roofs on the corner towers that are part of our favourite features. They remind us of castles in the Loire Valley in France. Let’s head into the Castle for a wee tour.

The Entrance Hall is subtle and understated with a knight in armour greeting visitors as they enter. There is also a beautifully illuminated painted Italian iron travelling trunk that is quite eye-catching.

You are met with more grandeur in the Armoury Hall which is essentially a roofed courtyard. This area will be a familiar sight to Downton Abbey fans as Inveraray Castle stood in for the fictional ‘Duneagle Castle’ in the Downton Abbey 2012 Christmas episode. One of the scenes shows them walking through here after they arrive at the castle.

The arms on display were first arranged by the 5^th Duke in 1784.

There are some interesting artefacts on display including memorabilia from the infamous Rob Roy.

We next head into another room featured in Downton Abbey, the State Dining Room. There is a distinct French flavour here that dates to the 1780s. For example, the chairs are “part of a set in the French style, all with their original Beauvais tapestry covers, possibly ordered by the 5^th Duke and Duchess on one of their visits to France”. Two items that caught our eye can be seen on the table, and they are four-wheeled German nefs (galleons) made of silver gilt that also made an appearance in the television show.

Like the State Dining Room, the Tapestry Drawing Room and China Turret are also designed in a 1780s French style. The magnificent tapestries were designed and made in Beauvais specifically to be hung in this room.

Walking over to the corner of the room, there is a lovely surprise behind the double doors- the China Turret.

The elegant Saloon is bright and airy. One fun fact is that the piano was used by the American music duo, Lerner and Lowe, who composed several of the songs for ‘My Fair Lady’ while staying in the Castle. According to Inveraray, they were “guests of the present Duke’s step-grandmother who was renowned for her famous friends and glamorous parties”.

We’ll continue to make our way through the house, but let’s stop and admire the architecture and artefacts along the way.

This is the Victorian Room, and the memorabilia throughout commemorates the marriage of the Marquis of Lorne to Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise (which we mentioned earlier in the article). An intriguing aspect of their lives was that Lorne became the Governor General of Canada in 1878. Furthermore, the province of Alberta and Lake Louise were named after Princess Louise (her full name was Louisa Caroline Alberta). Princess Louise was a talented sculptor, and the sculpture of Queen Victoria with a spinning wheel is one of her works.

Scottish castles often have a ghost story or two connected to them, and Inveraray sure has its share. We are now entering the most haunted part of the Castle- the MacArthur Room. According to the Duchess in her book, ‘Inveraray Castle and Gardens’, “the eerie atmosphere centres on the elaborately carved bed, on which a young Irish harpist was murdered in 1644. Legend has it that the boy’s ghost became so attached to the bed that when it was moved to the present Castle, his spirit came too. When a member the family is about to die, his harp music can be heard”. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to sleep in that bed!

Another unnerving tale says that just as the present Duke’s father died, the painting of the singing youth (pictured below) unexpectedly fell off the wall.

Perhaps we should head to a cosier place that is not so scary- the Old Kitchen. It was last used by the present Duke’s grandmother but has been restored to its Victorian glory. Inveraray Castle highlights how the kitchen would have been buzzing with activity in its heyday with items such as mutton, beef, pigs, and fowl coming from the Home Farm; venison and other game from the hill; salmon, sea and brown trout from the river; and sole, herring, and mackerel from the Loch.

All that talk of food sure helped us work up an appetite. Fortunately, there is a lovely Tearoom at Inveraray Castle, and some of the food is still sourced from the estate. I had the Loch Fyne smoked salmon sandwich and it was delicious. While we tucked into our lunch, we enjoyed looking at some of the photos on display from the Downton Abbey filming.

Well, that concludes our tour of Inveraray Castle. If you are in the area, we highly recommend you pay them a visit. Head over to their website for the most up-to-date information. There is so much more we want to explore in this area of the country, but we hope you have enjoyed this wee trip in the meantime.

If you are looking for more castle inspiration, just click on the search bar of our blog homepage and type in ‘castle’. We are fortunate to have visited so many beautiful ones all over Scotland and would love to take you on some virtual explorations. Of course, if you are in Edinburgh and would like to learn more about Edinburgh Castle, be sure to join one of our family-run, dog-friendly tours. Sami, our human tour guide, and Walter, our Golden Retriever tour guide, would love to show you around!

Until next time- Explore & Discover!

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