Dunollie Castle to Inveraray Castle: Day 33 – Scotland 2017
This page contains affiliate links, and we may receive compensation if you click on a link. You can read our full advertising disclosure here.
8 May 2017
We were up early because, after a day of ease, we were back to our regularly scheduled program of cram-in-as-much-as-you-can. We had a lot on the agenda for the day, including Kilmartin Museum and Inveraray Castle, but luckily our first stop was a mere 15 minutes down the road.
Dunollie Castle
We’d already had a sneak peek of Dunollie Castle because we could see it from the ferry when we went over to see Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull. The small castle ruin dates back to the 15th century and was once a vantage point for the Kings of Dalriada. Later, it fell into the hands of the MacDougalls. Today, the tower still stands tall, and the curtain wall around the small courtyard is mostly intact.
Dunollie Castle offers more than just the castle to visitors. There is also the 1745 House Museum, a weaving shed, the Draper’s Shop, Kettle Garden Cafe, and the surrounding woodlands. During our visit, we stopped in at the weaving shed first. I added a row to a small weaving for visiting guests and then admired the massive loom. It’s nice to know that it is now fully restored to working order!
We then wandered up to the 1745 House Museum. Alexander MacDougall built the house in 1745, shortly after the land was returned to them after being forfeited in the Jacobite rising. Alexander decided to focus on being a peaceable landlord rather than follow his family into the Jacobite stand. A sizeable addition was added to the house in 1836. When the family moved into this wing, the original 1745 structure became the servant’s quarters.
The museum has much to explore, and each room has artifacts and history to study. Our favorite item in the entire house was the targe (small shield) that was disguised as a butter churn lid when weapons were illegal to own. Fascinating and oh so clever!
More Exploring
We took the little woodland path leading up to the castle and set off to explore Dunollie Castle’s ruins. The tower house still stands, but there isn’t really access to it. We could look inside and walk into the ground floor area, but that’s about it. There is a gorgeous high cross in the courtyard, and the views won’t disappoint.
Once we’d had our fill, we grabbed a bite to eat at the little cafe before heading out. The website says that the cafe closed in 2020 but is hoping to reopen in August 2021.
Kilmartin Museum
If you are interested in Pictish history, prehistoric history, and archaeology, Kilmartin Museum is the place for you. As of this writing (September 2021), the museum is closed while they build newer and larger facilities. It is slated to reopen in 2023, and you should definitely add it to your list of places to visit. After all, how many other museums have ancient artifacts on display next to a window where you can look out and see the burial mound it came from? If you’re in the area of the museum during the timeframe that it is closed, you can still sign up for a guided glen walk. You’ll get to see cairns, a stone circle, and other standing stones.
Kilmartin Village itself is an incredible place to visit. Within 10 miles, there are over 800 prehistoric and historic monuments. The museum displays hundreds of artifacts that have been found in the area, including some from the many burial mounds that you can easily walk to from the museum. We’d have planned more time for this location if we’d realized what a gem we’d stumbled upon. One could easily spend the entire day in the village and surrounding areas, searching out ancient history. After visiting the museum and walking to a few burial mounds, we read of another location. We’d heard of it before but didn’t realize we were so close. With growing eagerness, we got back in the car and set off for an unexpected adventure.
Dunadd Fort And The Footprint Of Kings
A rocky outcropping rises from the land, presenting the perfect place to build a fortification. The natural terraces and narrow passages between the rocks were the blueprint needed to form a well-held defensive position over the surrounding land. And who better to occupy the location than the ancient kings of Scotland.
The area had been used as a fort well over 2,000 years ago. Still, it was more well known as the royal power center for the Kings of Dalriata (Dál Riata), the same mentioned above in relation to Dunollie Castle. Dunadd Fort is first mentioned in the early histories of AD 683.
Our reason for coming lay carved in the rock of a terrace directly below the citadel. A footprint. Legend has it that when a new king was crowned, he put his bare foot in the stone print to symbolize his union with the land he would be ruling over. The stuff stories are made of, I tell you! How could we resist? We stripped off our socks and shoes and stood in the footprint of kings.
Inveraray Castle
Inveraray Castle was the next stop on our itinerary for the day. I had been looking forward to this one because of its Downton Abbey connection. It played home to Rose and her family in the 2012 Christmas special, and I was eager to see it. Surprisingly enough, this was also the only castle that Billy and I both loved equally. If we could choose one castle to live in, it would be this one!
In one form or another, Inveraray Castle has stood near Loch Fyne since the 1400s, and Clan Campbell has always called it home. The present-day castle took 43 years to build, starting in 1746. Unfortunately, it saw a fire in 1877 and a second fire in 1975. Thankfully, the castle survived. Today, it is home to the 13th Duke of Argyll. The family occupies two floors of the castle, while the rest is open to visitors.
Exploring Inveraray
Clan Campbell has a long history, and you can explore much of it while touring the castle. One of the most impressive rooms is the armoury hall. It is a massive area and every wall is covered in some form of weaponry. As you can imagine, Billy was in heaven. The current duke’s mother loved the black powder weapons. He remembers firing the weapons often when he was a child, and they even restored quite a few of the muskets to firing order. What a childhood memory!
The castle has many rooms to explore, covering the basement, ground floor, and the first upper floor. In these rooms, you’ll find everything from the old kitchens to formal dining and drawing rooms to bedrooms. There is a clan room full of clan history, a gallery, and even a tea room where you can grab a bite to eat and a spot of tea. That’s exactly what we did after touring the entire castle. Over our light meal, we discussed what living in Inveraray Castle would be like, and we both agreed, it would be grand.
We daydreamed as we strolled through the gardens and picked out all of the familiar Downton sights. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and we were in heaven.
Fort William
After four nights in the tent, we were finally staying in a room with a bed and a shower. We had booked a room at St Andrews Guest House, a beautiful building built in 1880 to be a refectory and choir school for St Andrews Church. Our hosts were incredibly friendly and we enjoyed our stay there. I’m so bummed we didn’t get any pictures, but we were bone-tired when we arrived. Dunollie Castle, Kilmartin Museum, Dunnard Fort, and Inveraray Castle had made for a packed day! A quick fast food dinner was in order, and then a good night’s sleep. We had a big event the next day and wanted to be well-rested for it!
Cheers,
Lydia and Billy
