Craignish Castle

Craignish Castle stands on the Craignish peninsula in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. It is a category B listed building that includes a 16th-century tower house, once the seat of the Campbell family. The present structure also features a large 19th-century extension built by the Trench-Gascoigne family. In the later 20th century parts of the extension were removed and the house restored. The castle was previously known as Loch Beag. The castle’s history reaches back to the 12th century when the first Laird of Craignish took possession. The line passed through generations until the direct male line ended in 1544. After a siege of six weeks by Colkitto MacDonald, the tower house remained standing. In 1510 Ranald MacCallum became hereditary keeper of the castle. The castle later fell to the Earls of Argyll and in the 19th century was bought by Frederick Trench-Gascoigne. Visitors find a restored tower house with a bottle dungeon cut from rock beneath the kitchen floor. The original Yett remains on the side door and a right-handed spiral staircase leads to upper floors. The Celtic Room contains carved oak panels made from rubbings of tombs on Iona. The house was once used as a wartime home for evacuated children from Glasgow. Today it is divided into privately owned apartments.