Tor Castle is a ruined castle, about north east of Fort William,

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 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, west of the

River Lochy The River Lochy flows southwest along the Great Glen from Loch Lochy to Loch Linnhe at Fort William in the West Highlands of Scotland. Its two major tributaries are the short River Arkaig which drains Loch Arkaig into Loch Lochy and the River ...

and east of the Caledonian Canal, near Torlundy.

History

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

fort previously occupied the site. According to tradition, the fort once belonged to

Banquo Lord Banquo , the Thane of Lochaber, is a semi-historical character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play '' Macbeth''. In the play, he is at first an ally of Macbeth (both are generals in the King's army) and they meet the Three Witches togethe ...

who features in Macbeth. There has been a castle at the site since at least the eleventh century. In 1291 a splendid match was arranged for Angus Mackintosh, chief of the

Clan Mackintosh Clan Mackintosh (''Clann Mhic an Tòisich'') is a Scottish clan from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The chiefs of the clan are the Mackintoshes of Mackintosh. Another branch of the clan, the Mackintoshes of Torcastle, are the chiefs of Cl ...

, when he married Eva, the only daughter of Dougal Dal, chief of the

Clan Chattan Clan Chattan ( gd, Na Catanaich or gd, Clann Chatain) is a unique confederation of Highland clans. The clan is distinctive in highland clan history in that it was acknowledged to be a community or confederation, of twelve separate Scottish cla ...

, which brought Angus the lands of Glenloy and Loch Arkaig. Angus and Eva lived on the lands of Clan Chattan at Tor Castle but they later withdrew to Rothiemurchus. The castle was then seized by the

Clan Cameron Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands lies Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The Chie ...

, who built a massive tower house and courtyard. Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, 13th chief of Clan Cameron rebuilt the castle in 1530. The Camerons used the castle as a refuge from attacks by the

Clan MacDonald of Keppoch Clan MacDonald of Keppoch ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill na Ceapaich ), also known as Clan Ranald of Lochaber or Clan MacDonell of Keppoch'','' is a Highland Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald. The progenitor of the clan is Alistair Carrach Mac ...

Structure

The castle consists of a very ruinous

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

Referencing

External links

*
Drawing of Tor Castle
lochiel.net.
Tor Castle Virtual Tour
{{coord, 56.8609, N, 5.0651, W, region:GB, display=title Ruined castles in Highland (council area) Clan MacDonald of Keppoch Clan Mackintosh Clan Cameron Fort William, Highland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Highland