Teaninich Castle is situated north of the village of Evanton and just south of the town of Alness in

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the l ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

History

It is not known exactly how long a castle has been on the site of Teaninich Castle but it is thought to date back to at least the 16th century. In the 16th century, the lands in which Teaninich Castle is situated was an area known as

Fyrish Fyrish is the name given to an ancient area of land found just north of Evanton, Ross-shire, Scotland. The lands of Fyrish are now part of the Novar Estate. However Fyrish were once lands which belonged to the Earl of Ross, which were forfeited ...

. In 1589, the lower quarter of the Fyrish lands were acquired from Sir William Keith of Delny by Hugh

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

1st of Teaninich, son of John Munro 3rd of Coul, whose grandfather Hugh Munro 1st of Coul was a son of

George Munro, 10th Baron of Foulis George Munro of Foulis (died 1452) is traditionally the 10th Baron and 13th successive chief of the Clan Munro. However, he is only the third successive chief of the clan who can be proved by contemporary evidence. He was the eldest son of Hugh M ...

(d.1452). These lands at first were just the lower quarter of Fyrish but eventually extended eastward towards the River Alness and Teaninich Castle was bought by the Munros in February 1660. The receipt for which is still preserved in the Teaninich Charter Chest. Two worn lintel stones dated 1734 and 1770 built into the rear of the present castle cum mansion suggest an earlier building of some size and style. Part of the old Teaninich Castle was pulled down by Hugh Munro of Teaninich, 78th Highlanders, who lost the sight in both of his eyes in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1794. However, later, he occupied himself with improving his farmlands and rebuilding Teaninich Castle. The Blind Captain or blind laird, as he became known, took an enthusiastic interest in the supervision of the building of the present Teaninich Castle, often pacing out the room sizes himself. The asymmetry of the rooms is proof of his "enthusiasm". He founded the

Teaninich distillery Teaninich distillery is a scotch whiskey distillery in Alness, Scotland. It was founded and built in 1817 by Hugh Munro on his estate of Teaninich Castle. Despite an initial difficulty of procuring barley whisky owing to a high demand from illega ...

on the estate in 1817 and laid out the village of Alness at a time when illegal whisky gave the best return on the barley crops 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 1831, Hugh Munro sold the castle to his brother General John Munro, 9th of Teaninich and spent the remainder of his life in Coul Cottage, the dower house of Teaninich. He died in 1846. The castle remained in the Munro family until 1923. Teaninich remained a Munro seat until after the First World War when it was bought by an American, Charles Harrison, the man on whom Frances Hodgson Burnett's book 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' was based.

Recent events

In the present day the castle has become a hotel. In 2007 Teaninich House sold off of paddock land immediately behind the house onto which a property developer is currently building 36 houses. Further developments are expected, potentially involving the selling off and cutting down of the remaining woodland to the rear and northeast border of the house and garden ground, thus bringing the already extensive housing estate closer to the property. As of August 2013 the property was being offered for sale, by agents CKD Galbraith, for £875,000. In 2016 estate agents Galbraith were marketing the castle again for £450,000

References

{{Coord, 57, 41, 22.60, N, 4, 15, 53.08, W, region:GB, display=title Castles in Highland (council area) Clan Munro Category B listed buildings in Highland (council area) Listed castles in Scotland Alness