Erchless Castle is an
L-plan castle in northern
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 ...
, near
Struy,
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
. The current building was built in about 1600.
[Erchless Castle]
British Listed Buildings, Retrieved 26 March 2017 The castle is located at the northeast end of
Strathglass
Strathglass is a strath or wide and shallow valley in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland down which runs the meandering River Glass, Strathglass, River Glass from the point at which it starts at the confluence of the River Affric and Abhainn De ...
at the point where the Erchless Burn enters the
River Beauly
The River Beauly (, ) is a river in the Scottish Highlands, about 15 km west of the city of Inverness.
It is about 25 km long, beginning near the village of Struy, at the confluence of the River Farrar and the River Glass, Strathglass ...
, itself newly formed from the confluence of the rivers
Glass
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
and
Farrar immediately to the south of the castle.
History
A building was built in the 13th century by the
Bissetts, it came into the hands of the
Chisholms in the 15th century, by the marriage of Alexander de Chisholme to Margaret, Lady of Erchless, and became their ancestral home. The existing building is dated to about 1600 as an 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, to command and defend strategic points ...
and underwent it alterations in the 19th century with the addition of a
Baronial-style wing in 1895.
[Erchless Castle]
British Listed Buildings, Retrieved 26 March 2017 It 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 ...
.
History in the 20th century
After the death of the last surviving member of the direct line of Chisholms the estate was owned by the trustees of the late
Lady Chisholm, Annie Cecilia Chisholm of Chisholm. In 1932–33 the Estate Manager was recorded as William Macintyre, and he lived at the Sawmill Cottage.
The ''Highland News'', 17 April 1937, states that the Chisholm Estates had been sold on 10 April 1937 to an unknown buyer. The lands were said to have included Erchless Castle and Forest, with deer in the forests of Affric, Fasnakyle, Cozac, Benula together with the outlying estates of Buntait, Kerrow and Rheindown. The buyer was Highland Estates Ltd.
In 1946 the Erchless Estate and castle were bought on behalf of Baron Siegfried Nikolai von Stackelberg, an
anti-communist
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
member of the
Baltic German nobility and his wife Baroness Phyllis von Stackelberg. The funds came from the estate of her father
George Roscoe, a member of the firm ''James Roscoe & Sons''. The Estate continued in the ownership of the Trustees of George Roscoe until 1963–64, but the Valuation Roll for the following year names the new
Laird
Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...
ship of Erchless (estate) as being held by the family of
Sir Lawrence Robson, founder of accountancy firm
Robson Rhodes.
However, the Trustees did not sell the whole of the former Erchless Estate: the Valuation Roll for Kilmorack for 1964–65 records them as still owning Teanassie House, and most of Breakachy. Baron and Baroness von Stackelberg had moved into Teanassie House to live in retirement. Their gravestone reads: "In memory of Baron Nicholas Stackelberg of Teanassie House, much loved husband of Phyllis, died 30 September 1966. Phyllis Mary Roscoe died 21 March 1982."
On the death of
Sir Lawrence Robson in 1982, the castle was inherited by his son, Erik Maurice William Robson.
Citations
{{reflist
External links
Erchless Castle Erchless Castle Site
Castles in Highland (council area)
Clan Bissett
Category B listed buildings in Highland (council area)
Listed castles in Scotland
Scottish baronial architecture
Lowland castles
Clan Chisholm