Armadale Castle is a ruined

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

Armadale, Skye Armadale () is a village near the southern end of the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye, in the Highland council area of Scotland. Like most of Sleat, but unlike most of Skye, the area is fairly fertile, and though there are hills, most do not ...

, former home of the MacDonalds. A mansion house was first built here around 1790, facing south-east over the Sound of Sleat. In 1815 a square Tudor-Gothic mock-castle, intended for show rather than defence, designed by Edinburgh architect James Gillespie Graham, was built next to the house. After 1855 the part of the house destroyed by fire was replaced by a central wing, designed by

David Bryce David Bryce Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scotland, Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David B ...

. Since 1925 the castle, abandoned by the Macdonald family, has fallen into ruin. The gardens around the castle have been maintained, and are now home to the Clan Donald Centre, which operates the Museum of the Isles. All the southern (Gillespie-Graham) sections of the building were demolished in 1971, leaving the (roofless) David Bryce section and a less formal two storey wing on the far north side. The remnant section is only listed category C due to its ruinous condition. The gardens are protected as a Designed Landscape.

References

External links

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Gazetteer for Scotland: Armadale Castle
Castles in the Isle of Skye Category B listed buildings in Highland (council area) Clan Donald Houses in Highland (council area) Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Listed castles in Scotland James Gillespie Graham buildings Museums in Highland (council area) Gardens in Highland (council area) Ethnic museums in Scotland {{Scotland-struct-stub