A Castle for All Seasons
Urquhart was transformed many times during its long history, shaped and reshaped by its owners' changing needs and circumstances.
1. The Pictish Hill Fort
The first defences could date from before St Columba's . . . — — Map (db m127302) HM
A Highland Icon
‘S a bhaidealan àrda
Air sgàineadh o chèil’
‘S chan eil eachdraidh no seanchas
A dh'fhàg dearbhadh o chèin
Air an àl chuir an àird e
No dhaingnich a stèidh
Òran do Ghleann urchadain — Tòmas an Todhair
. . . — — Map (db m127243) HM
Academy of Applied Science
Academy of Applied Science
Loch Ness Research Team
United Kingdom Volunteer Associates
Harold and Esther Edgerton · Charles Finkelstein · Martin Klein · John and Annabelle Lothrop · Howard and Ruth Curtis · Tim . . . — — Map (db m127390) HM
1914 — 1918
Great European War
In Honoured Memory of
The Gallant Men
From the Parish and Village
of Ardersier
Who Made the Supreme Sacrifice
Sergt.-Major Thomas H. Bently, A.I.F. · Sergt. George Bain, Cameron Hldrs · Pte Donald . . . — — Map (db m128049) WM
The greatest castle of the Scottish Highlands stands before you. Within its ruined walls, you can discover stories of the remarkable people who lived here, learn more about some of the dramatic chapters in Scotland's history and share memorable . . . — — Map (db m87602) HM
Chapel Yard Cemetery
Cladh Leas A’ Chaibeil
The Chapel Yard Cemetery is one of three old burial grounds in Inverness city centre. The others are at Friars Street and the Old High Church.
The Chapel Yard or St Mary's Cemetery was probably . . . — — Map (db m127329) HM
Destroying the Gatehouse
Blocks of masonry were thrown here by an explosion in 1692 that ended the castle's long military career. Its garrison deliberately destroyed the gatehouse to prevent their Jacobite enemies from holding the medieval fortress . . . — — Map (db m127246) HM
Doocot
This beehive-shaped home for pigeons was built in the 1500s torovide fresh meat and eggs during the harsh winter months. Four of its stone nesting boxes survive.
John Grant was required to build a 'dove grove' under the terms of the . . . — — Map (db m127296) HM
Flora
MacDonald
Fhad’s a dh’ fhàsas
flùr air machair
Mairidh cliù Nathaniel
h-ainnir chaoimh.
— —
“The preserver of Prince Charles
Edward Stuart will be mentioned
in history, and if courage and
fidelity be . . . — — Map (db m127373) HM
Ghosts of Urquhart’s Past
Urquhart Castle is a jigsaw puzzle with most of the pieces missing. Walls have been demolished and new ones raised many times during the last 1,500 years. Timber buildings have rotted away entirely.
Stone Free . . . — — Map (db m127294) HM
Ladich a’ Chlinne a thuit’san arach
In Affectionate
and grateful Memory of
the Glen Urquhart Men
Who fell
in the Great War 1914 - 1918
Major Ian Mackay. · Cap. John Urquhart. · Cap. James Ogilvie Grant Earl of Seafield · Lt J. MacD. . . . — — Map (db m127305) WM
Inverness Castle
Sheriff courthouse and county hall built 1834 · William Burn architect · Here stood the king’s castle in the 12th century when David 1st founded the Royal Burgh of Inverness · The early timber castle was replaced by a high stone . . . — — Map (db m127369) HM
Before the first bridge was built across the Ness in the 12th century, Castle Street was the main route in and out of Inverness. In those days it was called the Doomsdale or the ‘valley of judgement’.
The ‘motte’ has been home to several . . . — — Map (db m127370) HM
John Cobb – World Speed Record Challenger – and – Glen Urquhart
In 1952 John Cobb, who already held the World Land-Speed Record, stayed in Glen Urquhart whilst making his attempt on the World Water-Speed Record on Loch Ness. . . . — — Map (db m128374) HM
On the waters of Loch Ness
John Cobb
having travelled at
206 miles per hour
in an attempt to gain the
World’s Water
Speed Record
lost his life
in this bay
Sept. 29th. 1952
This memorial is erected as a tribute
to the memory of . . . — — Map (db m127174) HM
Loch Ness and the Great Glen
Urquhart guards the Great Glen, An Gleann Mòr in Gaelic, that runs 73 miles (117km) from coast to coast. People have sought to control this route since ancient times. The castle commands Loch Ness as well as . . . — — Map (db m127304) HM
One of Our Aircraft
On the 21st Sept 1985 Wellington Bomber N2980 'R' for Robert was recovered, from a depth of 70 metres at a location 200 metres directly off shore from this point.
The Wimpy was RAF Bomber Commands mainstay in the early years . . . — — Map (db m127401) HM WM
The Chapel
On the rocky knoll above you are the foundations of what may have been Urquhart's chapel. The laird and his family needed somewhere private to hear Mass and receive Holy Communion from a priest.
From Worship to Warfare
There . . . — — Map (db m127253) HM
The Gatehouse
This once mighty structure protected the weakest point in Urquhart's defences — its main entrance.
Attackers had to negotiate the rock-cut ditch that was crossed by a drawbridge you can see where its pillars once fitted, . . . — — Map (db m127248) HM
The Grant Tower
This tower was built some time after King James IV gave Urquhart to John Grant of Freuchie in 1509. It was reward for supporting the monarch in his struggle against the MacDonald Lords of the Isles.
The King's Gift . . . — — Map (db m127258) HM
The Great Hall
Lavish banquets with music, dancing and storytelling were staged in the building before you.
This was where Urquhart's lord or his constable entertained guests and showed off their wealth and status. It was also where they . . . — — Map (db m127255) HM
The Great Kitchen
This room was alive with the sights, sounds and smells of a great medieval kitchen. It was where the culinary creations enjoyed by the 14th-century lord and his guests were concocted.
The discovery of an older kitchen rubbish . . . — — Map (db m127250) HM
The Great Raid of 1545
In 1545, a MacDonald-led force stormed Urquhart. Over the next month they systematically stripped the castle and Glen Urquhart of everything of value. The loot was carried away down the Great Glen. They burned what they could . . . — — Map (db m127252) HM
This pub was officially opened in 1860 by innkeeper Mrs Margaret Patterson. The name of the pub at this time is currently unknown.
However, this pub was open for at least ten years prior to officially becoming a licensed house. This would make . . . — — Map (db m127541) HM
The Magic of Loch Ness
Mòralachd Loch Nis
Welcome to the loch with the monster
Fàilte gu loch an uile-bheist
Did you know that …
St Columba is said to have seen the Loch's elusive monster in the 6th century. But even recent detective . . . — — Map (db m127395) HM
The Majesty of Loch Ness
Mòralachd Loch Nis
Welcome to a monster of a loch
Fàilte gu uile-bheist de locha
Did you know that...
Loch Ness (Nis - possibly a person's name) holds more water than all the lakes and reservoirs in England? . . . — — Map (db m127393) HM
The New Kitchen
Hearty Highland meals may have been prepared here for the residents of the Grant Tower.
The building was part of a small complex added to the castle when it was rebuilt in the 1500s. The old kitchen block had been demolished by . . . — — Map (db m127257) HM
The Private Chamber
The laird of Grant probably entertained close friends here on the first floor and had his bed on the second. Servants may have slept above.
All In the Family
The Grants were based in Strathspey, southeast of . . . — — Map (db m127259) HM
The Service Close
In the 1300s, you would have seen men and women making and repairing clothes, heard wood being worked into furniture and smelt ale being brewed around here.
The service close was sited away from the main castle buildings and . . . — — Map (db m127291) HM
The Stables
These walls may have echoed with the clatter of horses' hooves. Close to the gatehouse, this was the ideal spot for the castle's stables.
Carrying a Heavy Load
Riding horses or ‘coursours' carried nobles; pack horses or . . . — — Map (db m127260) HM
The Trebuchet
To breach the walls of a castle as mighty as Urquhart, an attacker needed siege engines. Most fearsome was the trebuchet, a type of giant catapult that could hurl massive stone balls hundreds of metres.
There is no record of . . . — — Map (db m127245) HM
The Water Gate
This gate linked Urquhart to the outside world. When roads were almost nonexistent, it was easier for people to travel along the loch by boat.
Everything the castle needed came through the water gate, including exotic imports . . . — — Map (db m127293) HM
Upstream, downstream
Suas an abhainn, sìos an abhainn
Look upstream to spot the places among the green spaces.
Highland cathedral Cathair-eaglais Ghàidhealach
St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral (1874) is the first new cathedral in Britain . . . — — Map (db m127375) HM
Urquhart the Defiant
Urquhart was held by some of the most powerful men in medieval Scotland and forged a reputation as a virtually impregnable fortress during the Wars of Independence.
A New Castle
This is the oldest part of the . . . — — Map (db m127301) HM
