Carbisdale Castle was built in 1907 for the

Duchess of Sutherland The Duchess of Sutherland is the wife of the Duke of Sutherland, an extant title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833. Duchesses of Sutherland * Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (née Elizab ...

on a hill across the

Kyle of Sutherland The Kyle of Sutherland () is an estuary in the Scottish Highlands formed by the rivers Oykel and Cassley. It extends from the confluence of these rivers to Bonar Bridge, some downstream, where it widens to become the Dornoch Firth. Along its w ...

from Invershin in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. From 1945 to 2011 it was used as a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

, operated by the

Scottish Youth Hostels Association Hostelling Scotland (SYHA; Gaelic: ''Comann Osdailean Òigridh na h-Alba'') is part of Hostelling International and provides youth hostel accommodation in Scotland. the organisation represents 58 hostels: 31 run by Hostelling Scotland and 27 af ...

. The castle is situated north of Culrain, and around north-west of

Bonar Bridge Bonar Bridge (, ) is a village on the north bank of the Kyle of Sutherland to the west and the Dornoch Firth to the east in the Parish of Creich in the Highland council area of Scotland. The Kyle of Sutherland ("the Kyle" for locals) is a ri ...

. It lies within the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Kincardine and

Community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

of Ardgay and District. The castle is in the

Scottish Baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th-century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

style, it has 365 windows, is and is protected as a category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The hostel closed for repair in 2011, and was put up for sale in 2014. Until its closure, the castle had a large collection of art, with some pieces dating back to 1680, as well as Italian marble statues. It was purchased in 2016 but offered for sale again in 2021; in 2022 it was again sold and is now a private residence. it is again on the market.

History

The castle was built between 1905 and 1917 for Mary Caroline, Duchess of Sutherland, the second wife of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland, whom she married in 1889. She is better known as "Duchess Blair" because of her first marriage to Captain Arthur Kindersley Blair of the 71st Highland Light Infantry, who died in a hunting accident in 1883 near

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotland's 2011 census. (n.p. ...

. The marriage was not well-liked in the Sutherland family. When the Duke died in 1892 his will, in favour of the Duchess, was contested by his son and heir

Cromartie Cromartie or Cromarty may refer to: People Sports * Antonio Cromartie (born 1984), American football cornerback * Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith (born 1987), American football safety * Marcus Cromartie (born 1990), American football cornerback * Russe ...

. In a court process that followed, the Duchess was found guilty of destroying documents and was imprisoned for six weeks in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...

. Eventually, the Sutherland family came to an agreement giving Duchess Blair a substantial financial settlement. Furthermore, the family agreed to build a castle for the Duchess, as long as it was outside of the Sutherland lands. The Duchess employed a firm of

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

builders and the castle was built between 1906 and 1917 just outside the Sutherland lands in

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; ), or the County of Ross, was a county in the Scottish Highlands. It bordered Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire, a county consisting of numerous enc ...

. It was located on a hillside to be visible to a large part of Sutherland, especially the main road and rail line which the Sutherland family would have to use to travel south. Thus it became known as the "Castle of Spite" as it was widely considered that the Duchess located the castle there to spite her husband's family and the settlement agreement. The castle's tower only has

clock face A clock face is the part of an analog clock (or watch) that displays time through the use of a flat dial (measurement), dial with reference marks, and revolving pointers turning on concentric shafts at the center, called hands. In its most basi ...

s on three of its four sides; the side facing Sutherland is blank, supposedly because the Duchess did not wish to give her former relatives the time of day. Colonel Theodore Salvesen, a wealthy Scottish businessman of Norwegian extraction, bought the castle in 1933. He made it available as a refuge for King

Haakon VII of Norway Haakon VII (; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was King of Norway from 18 November 1905 until his death in 1957. The future Haakon VII was born in Copenhagen as Prince Carl of Denmark. He was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess ...

and Crown Prince Olav, who would later become

King Olav V Olav V (, ; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was born at Sandringham House in England, the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Wa ...

, during the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupation of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During that time the castle was also used to hold important meetings; at the Carbisdale Conference on 22 June 1941 it was agreed that should Russian forces enter Norwegian territory, they would not stay there after the war. On 25 October 1944, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

entered Norway and captured thirty towns, but the Russian forces later withdrew under the terms of the agreement. After the Colonel died his son, Captain

Harold Salvesen Captain Harold Keith Salvesen (30 July 1897 – 1 February 1970) was a British businessman of Norwegian descent, who taught economics at the University of Oxford before becoming a partner in the family whaling and shipping firm Christian Sal ...

, inherited the castle and gave its contents and estate to the

. Carbisdale Castle Youth Hostel opened to members on 2 June 1945. Following frost damage, the hostel closed for repairs in February 2011. Further structural damage was discovered during repair work. Because of the cost of completing the repairs, the SYHA advertised the castle for sale in 2014, for £1.2 million. In addition they auctioned 17 marble sculptures and 36 paintings in May 2015, raising a further £1 million. In September 2016, the castle was purchased by FCFM Group Ltd, who planned to make it "a world-class private residence". The castle was put up for sale again in April 2021, priced at £1.5 million. It was sold in October 2022 to the barrister Samantha Kane and has since undergone restoration. Kane, now known as Lady Carbisdale, uses the castle as her residence but intends to partially open it to the public. , it is again on the market, with a guide price of £3.5 million. The castle is rumoured to be haunted by a ghost called Betty.

References

External links

*
Carbisdale Castle
archived from

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