Mingary Castle: The Castle from the Sea

Tuesday 29 October 2013

The Castle from the Sea

With the tide low I walked round the east side of the castle today, and crossed the shingle beach onto the wave-cut platform, going out as far as I could in order to try to recreate Iain Thornber's picture which was featured on Sunday's blog entry. There's a rock platform which got me fairly far out, but nothing like far enough to achieve the angle of the old photo, which has the hill called Glas Bheinn in the background. Either it was taken from a boat, or at low tide during spring tides. I'll try again.

1 comment:

Anonymous4 November 2013 at 00:14
Very nice to see work being done to the Mingary Castle! My 3rd great grandmother was born there in 1806 from what I've read. I was curious as to why they left Mingary and came to Canada.
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The Mingary Castle Preservation and Restoration Trust

"The most intact thirteenth century castle in Scotland" is how archaeologist Tom Addyman describes Mingary Castle. Seat of Clan MacIain, commanding the sea route through the Sound of Mull, Mingary dates back to the thirteenth century and may be much older - there is some evidence, not least from the name, that the Vikings fortified the site. However, since it was last inhabited in the mid-nineteenth century, the castle has been deteriorating. A recent survey showed that, unless urgent restoration work was carried out, the castle was in danger of collapse.

The Mingary Castle Preservation and Restoration Trust, which is Scottish registered charity SC043705, was set up in 2013 to address this problem. Work started on the site in April 2013, and it is hoped to have the building fully restored to its mediaeval grandeur by the end of 2014.

Mingary Castle stands on Ardnamurchan Estate land, near the village of Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Donald Houston, who owns the Estate and is responsible for the upcoming work on the castle, is determined that the many written records that are being prepared as part of the work should be fully available to the public on-line. This will be done through the main Mingary Castle website, of which this blog will be a part.

Businesses Involved in the Project