Torosay Castle is a large house situated south of

Craignure Craignure (; gd, Creag an Iubhair) is a village and the main ferry port on the Isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The village is within the parish of Torosay. Geography The village is located around Craignure Bay, on Mull's east coast. ...

on the

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull ( gd, An t-Eilean Muileach ) or just Mull (; gd, Muile, links=no ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute. Covering ...

, in the Scottish

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whi ...

Castle History

The buildings and gardens were listed by Historic Scotland in 1987. The agency indicates that the property was originally known as Duart House. One source explains that it was renamed Torosay to avoid confusing it with Duart Castle which is also located on the island, on the Sound of Mull. It was designed by architect

David Bryce David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David Bryce (1763–1816) a grocer with a successful side interest in buildi ...

for John Campbell of Possil (see

Carter-Campbell of Possil Carter-Campbell of Possil (also known as Campbell of Possil) is a branch of Clan Campbell, a Scottish clan. Historically, they are part of Clan Campbell, which was regarded as one of the largest Scottish clans. The branch of the Campbell clan w ...

) in the

Scottish Baronial style Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Sco ...

. A history by Undiscovered Scotland provides these specifics:TOROSAY CASTLE
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"In the 1850s Colonel Campbell's son John inherited the estate, demolished the Georgian house, and commissioned Edinburgh architect David Bryce to produce something on a much grander scale. What was called at the time Duart House was completed in 1858".

In 1865, the property was sold to Arbuthnot Charles Guthrie and was owned by members of that family until 1911, when it was sold as a ruin to Sir Fitzroy Maclean who arranged to restore the castle. Following the sale of

Guthrie Castle Guthrie Castle is a castle and country house in Angus, Scotland. It is located in the village of Guthrie, east of Forfar, and north-east of Dundee. The castle dates back to the 15th century, although much of the present building is of 19th-c ...

out of the Guthrie family, Torosay was generally acknowledged as the seat for

Clan Guthrie Clan Guthrie is a Scottish clan. History Origins of the clan The family of Guthrie took their name from the lands of the same name in the county of Angus and their name is one of the oldest in that county. The origin of the name Guthrie is n ...

. Torosay is surrounded by of spectacular gardens including formal terraces laid out at the turn of the 20th century and attributed to Sir

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Got ...

. The castle and gardens used to be open to the public, being linked to the Craignure ferry terminal by the

Isle of Mull Railway The Isle of Mull Railway was a gauge line, long, which ran from the ferry terminal at Craignure to Torosay Castle, on the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. Originally it was known as the Mull and West Highland Railway (Mull and We ...

. The garden's Statue Walk is made up of 19 statues in the style of Italian sculptor

Antonio Bonazza Antonio Bonazza (1698 – c. 1762) was an Italian sculptor of the Rococo. Antonio was the son of Giovanni Bonazza, a prominent sculptor active in Padua (1654–1736), and member of a large family of sculptors. He may have been influenced by O ...

. The statues were acquired by then-owner Walter Murray Guthrie from a derelict garden near Milan and shipped to Scotland for next to nothing as ballast in a cargo ship. The novelist

Angela du Maurier Angela Busson du Maurier (1 March 1904 – 5 February 2002) was an English actress and novelist who also wrote two volumes of autobiography, ''It's Only the Sister'' (1951) and ''Old Maids Remember'' (1965). Her sister was the novelist Daphne du ...

, older sister of Dame Daphne du Maurier, is said to have spent some time residing at Torosay with her close companion Olive Guthrie (great grandmother of the present owner). Angela dedicated her book ''Weep No More'' (1940) to "Olive Guthrie of Torosay." Other visitors during the 1930s included Winston Churchill (Olive Guthrie was his aunt by marriage) and King George of Greece.

21st century

The castle was sold in 2012 by Christopher Guthrie-James, the fifth laird of Torosay Castle. The new owner, the McLean Fund, closed it for renovations; it was occupied again in December 2013 by a private family. Guthrie-James said "it was with a sense of relief, rather than regret, that we sold the family home at Torosay." Kenneth Donald McLean sixth Laird has spent more than £1 million renovating the castle and gardens. The castle is permanently closed to the public. The gardens are open on the first Sunday in the month - April to October. A report published in March 2017 referred to the new owner as "Madame von Speyr, whose charity, the Dew Cross Centre for Moral Technology, is said to be based here". The charity, however, listed its base as Edinburgh in 2019.

Champagne find

In July 2008 the then oldest bottle of

Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810, and i ...

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

was discovered inside a

sideboard A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers ...

in Torosay Castle. The 1893 bottle was in mint condition. It is believed to have been locked inside the dark sideboard since at least 1897. The champagne is now on display at the Veuve Clicquot visitor centre in Reims, France, and regarded as "priceless". File:Torosay castle 02.jpg, Castle grounds File:Torosay Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1529230.jpg File:Torosay Castle gardens - geograph.org.uk - 1641039.jpg, gardens at Torosay Castle

Notes

External links

{{coord, 56, 27, 18, N, 5, 41, 14, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Houses completed in 1858 Castles in Argyll and Bute Scottish baronial architecture Country houses in Argyll and Bute Buildings and structures on the Isle of Mull Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Category A listed buildings in Argyll and Bute Gardens in Argyll and Bute Historic house museums in Argyll and Bute