Aldourie Castle is in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, situated on Strath Dore, between the southern banks of

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

and the Glen leading onto Drumashie Moor. The parkland of extends northeast and southeast of the house. Lying close to the village of Aldourie, it originally consisted of a rectangular main block, with a round tower at the south-west corner. In the 1860s, William Fraser-Tytler extended the castle in all directions, including a balustraded round tower, oriel windows, scroll-sided dormers, turrets, corbels, rope-moulded stringing and gunloops. It underwent extensive restoration work between 2002 and 2010, and again in 2017, when the original walled Victorian kitchen garden and surrounding grounds were revived, with help from students from the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

. The gardens and parkland are included in the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

History

Aldourie Castle on

was first recorded as a laird’s house in 1625 as a property of Mackintosh of Kyllachy in Nairnside. Lying close to the small, crofting village of Aldourie, it originally consisted of a rectangular main block, with a round tower at the south-west corner, and was extended to the west in 1839 with a two-storey wing. In the 1860s, William Fraser-Tytler was responsible for transforming Aldourie into the historic castle it is today. He commissioned Mackenzie & Matthews to extend the house “in all directions, parading the full repertoire of early 17th-century baronialism, including a balustraded round tower cribbed from Castle Fraser, Grampian, oriel windows, scroll-sided steeply pedimented dormers, candle-snuffered turrets, corbelling, rope-moulded stringcourses and gunloops”. Further additions in 1902-4 by

Sir Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) 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 Gothi ...

included a wing at the south-east. Aldourie Castle - geograph

In 1893, the

Lovat Scouts The Lovat Scouts was a British Army unit first formed during the Second Boer War as a Scottish Highland yeomanry regiment. They were the first known military unit to wear a ghillie suit, and were renowned for their elite reconnaissance capabili ...

army unit were reputedly founded at Aldourie by

Lord Lovat Lord Lovat () is a title of the rank Lord of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for Hugh Fraser by summoning him to the Scottish Parliament as Lord Fraser of Lovat, although the holder is referred to simply as Lo ...

and Edward Fraser-Tytler. In 2015 Danish billionaire

Anders Holch Povlsen Anders Holch Povlsen (born 4 November 1972) is a Danish billionaire, CEO and sole owner of the international retail clothing chain Bestseller (which includes Vero Moda and Jack & Jones), a company founded by his parents. He is the largest share ...

bought the castle for £15 million as part of his portfolio of 12 Scottish estates making him the largest landowner in Scotland. The castle is available to rent.

Geography

Aldourie Castle is situated on Strath Dores, between the southern banks of Loch Ness and the Glen leading onto Drumashie Moor. Aldourie Castle is set on a level terrace above the loch, with its main lawn facing north-west out onto the loch and the slopes of Creag Dherag. The parkland of extends to the north-east and south-east of the house and is enclosed by woodland. South of the parkland, a series of agricultural fields are enclosed by a regular pattern of shelterbelts, screening Aldourie Farm. The extent of the parkland remains unchanged since the mid 19th century.

Present day

Aldourie Castle is now classed as the only inhabitable castle on Loch Ness and it is now used primarily for private use castle stays. On site activities include

clay pigeon shooting Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting at shooting target#Clay pigeons, special flying targets known as "clay pigeons" or "clay targets" with a shotgun. Despite their name, the targets ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

and chartered boat tours. Now a Category A listed building in Scotland, Aldourie Castle underwent extensive restoration work between 2002 and 2010 to restore specialist paintwork, murals and metalwork fixtures throughout the Castle. An extensive Estate Conservation Project started in 2017 to revive the original walled Victorian kitchen garden and surrounding grounds involving renowned landscape architect Tom Stuart Smith with help from students from the

. Concurrently, extensive architectural additions to the Castle and Estate, including a new Boathouse, as well as the sensitive repair of the historic Steadings building have been led by Ptolemy Dean Architects. The gardens and parkland are included in the

.{{Historic Environment Scotland, num=GDL00011, desc=ALDOURIE CASTLE , access-date=28 February 2019, fewer-links=yes

References

Castles in Highland (council area) Category A listed buildings in Highland (council area) Listed castles in Scotland Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Loch Ness