Balnagown Castle is beside the village of

Kildary Kildary ( gd, Caoldaraigh) is a small village in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. The village is located on the Balnagown River and is bordered by Balnagown Castle and the Balnagown estate, owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, former o ...

Easter Ross Easter Ross ( gd, Ros an Ear) is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland. The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constitue ...

, part of the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

area of Scotland. There has been a castle on the site since the 14th century, although the present building was remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is the ancestral home of the

Chiefs of Clan Ross The first chiefs of the Scottish Highland, Clan Ross were also the original Earls of Ross The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland. Origins and transfers In the early Middle Ages, Ross was part ...

, although since the 1970s it has been owned by Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. It is protected as a category B listed building, and the grounds are included on the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

, the national listing of significant gardens.

History

In the early 14th century, a castle was begun at Balnagown by Hugh, Mormaer (Earl) of Ross. Hugh was husband of Maud, sister of King Robert the Bruce, although after Hugh's death in 1333, his family lost royal favour and their lands were

forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next'' * ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers L ...

. Balnagown was acquired by a stepson of Hugh in 1375 who expanded the estate, a process which continued over the following centuries. On 11 November 1501

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

was entertained by the laird's harper. In 1585 Alexander Ross, 9th

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

of Balnagown, was outlawed, as was his son George. During the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...

, David Ross, 12th of Balnagown, fought for King Charles II at the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...

(1651), although he was captured and died in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

. The 13th laird, another David, married Anne, daughter of James Stuart, 4th Earl of Moray, in 1666. David and Anne rebuilt Balnagown, as attested by a datestone of 1672 on the castle, although they left no heir, and the estate passed to the Rosses of Halkhead in 1711. In 1754, Balnagown passed to another branch of the family, when it was inherited by Admiral Sir John Lockhart-Ross, 6th Baronet. The admiral spent much time and money improving the Balnagown estate, becoming "the most efficient and enterprising Highland estate manager of his day." His son and heir Sir Charles Lockhart-Ross consulted

James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 June 1776 – 11 March 1855) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the early 19th century. Life Graham was born in Dunblane on 11 June 1776. He was the son of Malcolm Gillespie, a solicitor. He was christened as J ...

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

alterations to the castle, and

Italian garden The Italian garden (or giardino all'italiana () is best known for a number of large Italian Renaissance gardens which have survived in something like their original form. In the history of gardening, during the Renaissance, Italy had the most ...

s were laid out.

Sir Charles Ross, 9th Baronet Sir Charles Henry Augustus Frederick Lockhart Ross, 9th Baronet (4 April 1872 – 29 June 1942) was a Scottish inventor and commercial entrepreneur who invented the innovative and often controversial straight-pull actioned Ross rifle. Bio ...

, inherited in 1911. He continued the tradition of agricultural improvement, introducing the silo and the combine harvester to the estate. He also invented the Ross rifle, which he had manufactured in Canada. To prevent the seizure of Balnagown by the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

, Ross had the estate declared a ward of the court of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, and he was subsequently unable to return to Britain for fear of imprisonment. From his death in 1942, until 1972, the castle was unoccupied and became dilapidated. In 1972, it was purchased by Mohamed Al-Fayed, who began restoration of the house and grounds. The decoration of the castle was entrusted to the Parisian interior designer Philippe Belloir, decorator of the Parisian Ritz.

References

External links

Balnagown Highland Estate
{{Authority control Houses in Highland (council area) Category B listed buildings in Highland (council area) Castles in Highland (council area) Clan Ross Listed castles in Scotland Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes