Mingary Castle

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Aerial view of Mingary Castle, view from the southwest (2013)

Mingary Castle , also spelled Mingarry Castle , is the ruin of a rock castle about 1.5 kilometers southeast of the small village of Kilchoan in Lochaber in the southern Scottish Highlands . It is thus the westernmost fortification on the British mainland and at the same time one of the best preserved Scottish castles of the 13th century.

Although the roots of the castle can be traced back to the 13th or 14th century, the majority of today's building material comes from the 16th to 18th centuries. Until the beginning of the 17th century, the complex was the seat of the MacIains of Ardnamurchan , a branch of the MacDonalds , Lords of the Isles . On one about 24  feet high cliff above the sea on the south coast of the Ardnamurchan located -Halbinsel, was the site of a strategic space to the entrance to mull Sund and to Loch Sunart and the sea access to the Isle of Mull to control .

Mingary is the anglicised form of the Gaelic name Mhìogharraidh, the most likely meaning of which comes from the two Old Norse words "mikil" for "big" and "gardhr" for "courtyard" or "house" and can therefore be interpreted as "big house".

In the end, due to acute dilapidation, the facility could only be viewed from the outside, as entry was prohibited for safety reasons. The "Mingary Castle Preservation and Restoration Trust" has been taking security measures since May 2013 to make the ruin accessible to the public again. The facility has been accessible again since March 2016 and now also offers overnight accommodation.

description

Floor plan of the castle ruin as it was around 1890

Mingary Castle stands on a rock that is surrounded on three sides by the sea. The small complex has an irregular, hexagonal floor plan, which is due to the location. Due to the great similarity to Castle Tioram it can be assumed that both castles were built by one and the same builder . Mingary's castle area measures around 19.7 × 17.9 meters and is enclosed by a crenellated circular wall made of sandstone with house stone decor, which today still has remains of the former battlement . The stone material used for the wall comes from an Inninmore quarry on the Morvern Peninsula . On the lake side, it is 1.8 meters thick and about 8.5 meters high. On the landward side with the main entrance on the north west corner, however, it is up to 2.7 meters thick and 14 meters high. This side with its narrow slit windows is additionally secured by a three meter deep and 7.5 meter wide neck ditch . In the past, it could only be crossed by a drawbridge before it was replaced by today's stone bridge in the 18th century.

On the lake side in the south there is a second, smaller access to the castle complex, which can be reached from the lake shore via a staircase carved into the rock. This may be the older original access. The narrow gate is only 2  feet and 10  inches (about 86 cm) wide and is guarded by two cantilevered black watch towers on the southwest and southeast corners, which date from the late 16th century.

In the north, the ruins of a three-story building lean against the inner wall. It dates from the early 18th century and replaced an older hall building at the time . There are two rooms of different sizes on each of its floors. On the inner west side of the surrounding wall are the ruins of a two-story building that was erected at the same time as the north building. It may have housed the castle kitchen. Opposite it are the remains of a one-story building on the southeast side, which was built later than the other two buildings, but also in the 18th century.

A stone staircase in the north-west corner of the courtyard, which is still partially preserved today, provided access to the battlements on the circular wall.

history

Mingary's early history, especially when it was founded, is uncertain. Many publications mention the 13th century as the period of construction, but this dating was carried out solely on the basis of architectural features of the first building fabric, which could just as well speak for the 14th century as the foundation period. Historians suggest that the facility was founded by the MacDougals or the MacDonalds. The first documented mention of the castle dates back to 1493, when the Scottish King James IV made a stop at Mingary Castle on October 25th during his battle against John of Islay. At that time the small complex was owned by the MacIain of Ardnamurchan clan . Just two years later, James IV resided at Mingary Castle on May 18, 1495 when the MacIains helped him end a rebellion instigated by Donald MacDonald of Lochalsh. Donald's father was killed by a member of the MacIain clan. After James' death, hostilities broke out between the MacIains and the MacDonalds of Lochalsh, during which Donald MacDonald and his supporters besieged Mingary Castle in 1515 ; but in vain. It was not until another siege two years later was successful, and the castle was partially destroyed, but then repaired.

The battlements and watch towers on the seaward side of the castle date from the late 16th century

In the 1580s, the MacIain clan became embroiled in a feud between the MacDonalds of Dunnyvaig and the Glens and the MacLeans of Duart . In the course of this, Lachlan MacLean captured John, the chief of the MacIains, and besieged Mingary Castle in 1588 . He was assisted by soldiers from a Spanish galleon called Florida, whose ship, as part of the Spanish Armada, had sought refuge in Tobermory Bay from pursuit by English warships. After three unsuccessful days, MacLean had to give up the siege because some troops hurriedly deployed by the neighboring clans, who outnumbered the MacLean fighters, were approaching to relieve the castle. It was also towards the end of the 16th century when the medieval complex was first renovated. Not only was the northern part of the curtain wall raised and reinforced, but a new crenellated wreath was also added to enable the castle to be defended with muskets . The battlements were also renewed on the seaward side and the crowd watch towers that still exist today were added. At the same time the construction of the southern entrance falls. It could also be a matter of converting an existing gate. During the 17th century, only a few minor changes were made to the battlements on the north-west and west sides of the curtain wall and perhaps the main entrance on the north-west corner was rebuilt.

As early as 1519, King Jacob V had given Ardnamurchan and his castles to Colin Campbell , 3rd Earl of Argyll . Even so, the MacIains had remained in Mingary's possession for the time being. In 1612, however, Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll , transferred Mingary to his brother-in-law Donald Campbell of Barbreck-Lochow and gave him permission to recruit a castle crew at the earl's expense . The MacIains were driven from Mingary Castle. In 1622 the MacDonald clan tried again unsuccessfully to recapture Mingary Castle and to drive out the Campbells. Alasdair MacColla (also called Colkitto) succeeded in doing this during the English Civil War in 1644. He took the castle in the name of King Charles I of England , but in 1647 General David Leslie Mingary took back for the Covenanters and gave the castle back in 1651 the care of the Campbells.

Archibald Campbell, 10th Earl of Argyll awarded Ardnamurchan including Mingary Castle in 1696 to Alexander Campbell of Lochnell, who began to make various structural changes to the complex at the beginning of the 18th century. For example, he had a three-story building with a gable roof erected on the north side of the inner courtyard to replace an older previous building. A two-storey building was also built on the inside of the western curtain wall, which was followed in the further course of the 18th century by a one-storey building on the opposite, south-eastern side of the inner courtyard. In 1723 Alexander Murray acquired the complex including the land belonging to it. Due to his death in 1743 he did not see how English troops were stationed in the castle during the second Jacobite revolt . The initially small number of soldiers was increased to 59 in January 1746. At that time Mingary Castle was under the administration of Donald Campbell of Auchindoun. Around 1770 James Riddell bought all of Ardnamurchan and with it Mingary. His descendants remained the owners of the facility until 1848. It is not clear when the castle was abandoned, but in 1838 the buildings were probably still habitable. When the plant was abandoned, everything that was of value or that could be reused was taken away and dismantled, and so gradually began to deteriorate.

At the instigation of the owner Donald Houston, the "Mingary Castle Preservation and Restoration Trust" was founded in early 2013. He has been carrying out security measures and archaeological excavations in the castle since April 2013 . The aim is to fathom the as yet unexplained beginnings of the castle's history and to prepare the complex by 2015 so that its rooms can be rented out.

literature

  • Tom Addyman, Richard Oram: Mingary Castle Ardnamurchan, Highland. Analytical and Historical Assessment for Ardnamurchan Estate . December 2012 ( online ).
  • Stewart Cruden: The Scottish castle . 3. Edition. Spurbooks, Edinburgh 1981, ISBN 0-7157-2088-0 , pp. 38-40, 45-47.
  • Richard Dargie: Scottish Castles & Fortifications . GW Publishing, Berks 2009, ISBN 978-0-9561211-0-3 , p. 37.
  • Jon Haylett: The Excavation & Restoration of Mingary Castle . In: Castle Studies Group Bulletin . No. 16, September 2013, pp. 4–5 ( PDF ; 2.5 MB).
  • The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (ed.): Argyll. An inventory of the monuments . Volume 3. RCAHMS, Edinburgh 1980, pp. 209-217.
  • W. Douglas Simpson: Mingary Castle . In: Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Glasgow . (TGSG). New series, volume 13.
  • David MacGibbon, Thomas Ross: Castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland. From the 12th to the 18th century . Volume 3. Douglas, Edinburgh 1889, pp. 42-46 ( digitized ).

Web links

Commons : Mingary Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jon Haylett: The Excavation & Restoration of Mingarry Castle. 2013, p. 4.
  2. ^ Francis H. Groome (arr.): Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical. Volume 5. Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh 1884, p. 35 ( digitized version ).
  3. ^ A Kilchoan Diary , accessed March 12, 2014.
  4. ^ Listed Building - Mingary Castle . In: Historic Scotland .
  5. ↑ a b c d e Entry on Mingary Castle  in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database, accessed March 12, 2014.
  6. ↑ Geoffrey Stell: Castle Tioram. A statement of cultural significance . September 2006, p. 54.
  7. ↑ a b c d e Norman H. MacDonald: Mingary Castle ( Memento from January 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ^ D. MacGibbon, T. Ross: Castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland. 1889, p. 43.
  9. ^ Mary Miers: Western Seaboard. An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Rutland, Edinburgh 2008, ISBN 978-1-873190-29-6 .
  10. ↑ Cf. Geoffrey Stell: Castle Tioram. A statement of cultural significance. September 2006, p. 19.
  11. ↑ James Scott Petre: Who Built Mingary Castle? - An Alternative Perspective. October 2013 ( Memento from March 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ Jon Haylett: Saving Mingary Castle , accessed November 4, 2014.

Coordinates: 56 ° 41 ′ 34.2 "  N , 6 ° 4 ′ 48.5"  W.