Castle Leod (Ross and Cromarty) (5008857210)

Castle Leod is the seat of the

Clan Mackenzie Clan Mackenzie ( gd, Clann Choinnich ) is a Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestors of the Mackenzie chiefs to the 12th century. However ...

. It is a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, and the grounds are listed in the ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Scotland'', the national listing of significant gardens. It is located near

Strathpeffer Strathpeffer ( gd, Srath Pheofhair) is a village and spa town in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland, with a population of 1,469. Geography It lies in a strath west of Dingwall, with the elevation ranging from above sea level. Sheltere ...

in the east of

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland ...

History

Background

The castle was granted to John of Killin, 10th Chief of Clan MacKenzie (1485–1561) after he fought at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

. The castle was passed to his great-grandson Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, who granted it in 1608 to his brother Sir Roderick "Rorie" Mackenzie. In 1605 Sir Roderick married Margaret MacLeod, heiress of Torquil MacLeod of Lewis, bringing her immense wealth into the family and also settling the feud between the MacLeods and the Mackenzies over the Barony of Coigach, which thus passed into the Mackenzie family.

Castle history

The castle is believed to have been built on the site of a very ancient

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographic ...

fort from before the 12th century. The current castle is the result of work carried out in the early 17th century by Sir Roderick Mackenzie, the ancestor of the

Earl of Cromartie Earl of Cromartie () is a title that has been created twice, both for members of the Mackenzie family. It was first created as Earl of Cromarty in the Peerage of Scotland in 1703 for Sir George Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet, but his titles were forfe ...

. The castle has remained the seat of the Earls of Cromartie ever since. In 1746

George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie (c. 1703 – 28 September 1766) was a Scottish nobleman. Life He succeeded his father John, the 2nd earl, in February 1731. In 1745, he joined Charles Edward Stuart and he served with the Jacobites until ...

, forfeited the estate, following his support for the ill-fated 1745

Jacobite Uprising , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

. The estates, but not the title, were restored to his son in 1784. The castle was reported to already be in a run-down state earlier in the same century, when the estate was badly debt-ridden. By 1814 it was described as "Quite a ruin... deserted except by crows", though this may have applied more to the upper upper floors. In the mid 19th century, Castle Leod was completely renovated by the Hay-Mackenzies. Descendants of the 3rd Earl, the Hay-Mackenzies were restored to the earldom of Cromartie after Anne Hay-Mackenzie married George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland, and in 1861 was created first Countess of Cromartie, the earldom last held by her great-great-grandfather, the 3rd Earl, with a

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon th ...

to her second son,

Francis Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Cromartie Francis Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Cromartie (''né'' Francis Sutherland-Leveson-Gower) (3 August 1852 – 24 November 1893) was a British Peer. Early life Francis was born on 3 August 1852 as the third son of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd D ...

. She was also created Baroness Macleod, of Castle Leod. In 1851 large extensions were added to the north of the castle, which were rebuilt in 1904. The roof was made watertight as recently as 1992. The castle remains the home of the Earl of Cromartie, and is open to the public on a limited number of days.

The castle

A compact L-Plan

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strate ...

, built of red sandstone, forms the earliest part of the castle, and may be based on a 15th-century building. An additional section was later added in the re-entrant angle, making the castle square in plan, and accommodating a larger staircase and extra bedrooms. The date 1616 is carved on a dormer window, but it is not known if this date refers to the original phase or the extension. The addition was built over the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

of the original front, and is more decorative in style. In some parts the walls of the castle are thick. Other defensive measures include the iron grilles which remain on some lower windows, and numerous splayed gun loops and arrow-slit windows. The rooms, some wood-panelled, are decorated with many Mackenzie portraits from past centuries, as well as antique furnishings and large-scale antique maps. Many original fittings are to be found around the castle. The grounds include two Spanish chestnuts, said to have been planted by John of Killin in 1556, to mark the confirmation of his acquisition of Castle Leod by

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Sco ...

Outlander

Castle Leod is widely considered to be the inspiration behind Castle Leoch, the seat and home of the

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in a ...

of Clan Mackenzie, in Diana Gabaldon's '' Outlander'' historical fiction series. It was considered as a filming location for the TV series, yet

Doune Castle Doune Castle is a medieval stronghold near the village of Doune, in the Stirling council area of central Scotland and the historic county of Perthshire. The castle is sited on a wooded bend where the Ardoch Burn flows into the River Teith. It ...

was selected, due to its ease of location. This may be surprising to viewers who know Castle Leod as the seat of the Clan Mackenzie and accurately represents the historical period which Diana Gabaldon seeks to portray. Diana Gabaldon told

STV STV may refer to: Television * Satellite television ** Direct-broadcast satellite television (DBSTV) Channels and stations * STV (TV channel), the brand name of ITV broadcasters in central and northern Scotland ** Scottish Television, now le ...

that "When the TV show began scouting locations, I suggested Leod as a possibility. It's entirely accurate as to period, of course, and has magnificent grounds, with a park of enormous, exotic trees planted by centuries of MacKenzies and their visitors. (Diana herself planted a "very modest"

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

, as her "own wee contribution" to the history).

References

External links

Castle Leod. Home of the Chief of the Clan Mackenzie and Seat of the Clan Mackenzie (archived URL)

Castle Leod
at ''Highland Historic Buildings Trust'' {{coord, 57, 35, 55, N, 4, 32, 06, W, region:GB, display=title Castles in Highland (council area) Category A listed buildings in Highland (council area) Listed castles in Scotland Clan Mackenzie Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Historic house museums in Highland (council area) Ross and Cromarty