Kinkell Castle

File:Kinkell Castle (geograph 3324064).jpg

Kinkell Castle, also known as the Tower of Kinkell, is a castle located in the parish Urquhart and Logie Wester, in the former county of Ross and Cromarty, on the peninsula known as the Black Isle, in the Scottish Highlands. It was the seat of the Mackenzies of Gairloch, a branch of the Clan Mackenzie.{{cite book |last=Coventry |first=Martin |year=2008 |title=Castles of the Clans: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans |location=Musselburgh |publisher=Goblinshead |page=380 |isbn=978-1-899874-36-1}}

Architecture

It is three storeys tall and also has an attic. It includes a round tower that houses the stairs and is topped with a watch room. The basement is vaulted and once contained the kitchen. The great hall was on the floor above.{{cite web |url=https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst17338.html |title=Kinkell Castle |website=scottish-places.info |access-date=March 30, 2025}} The entrance is guarded by gun loops.{{cite web |url=https://her.highland.gov.uk/monument/MHG9028 |title=MHG9028 Kinkell Castle |website=Highland Council |access-date=March 30, 2025}} It is a Z-plan castle.{{cite web |url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200348382-kinkell-castle-urquhart-and-logie-wester |title=Kinkell Castle |website=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk |access-date=March 30, 2025}}

History

The castle was constructed in the 1590s for John Roy Mackenzie, IV of Gairloch. A keystone above the fireplace has the date 1594.{{cite web |url=https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/apex/f?p=1505:300:::::VIEWTYPE,VIEWREF:designation,LB14906 |title=Kinkell Castle and surrounding wall and studio cottage |website=Historic Environment Scotland |access-date=March 30, 2025}} In 1619, Mackenzie received a charter under the Great Seal of Scotland for Kinkell to be included in his barony of Gairloch and for Kinkell to be its chief messuage. His coat of arms and those of his first wife are above the mantlepiece in the great hall.{{cite book |last=Mackenzie |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Mackenzie (historian) |year=1894 |chapter=The Mackenzies of Gairloch |title=History of the Mackenzies, With Genealogies of the Principal Families of The Name |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmackenz00mack/page/n9/mode/2up |location=Inverness |publisher=A. & W. Mackenzie |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmackenz00mack/page/406/mode/2up 407] |access-date=March 30, 2025}}

From 1968, the castle was restored by the pop artist Gerald Laing and used as the Back Isle Bronze Age foundry for bronze casting. He died in 2011 and it has since been maintained by his son.{{cite magazine |last=Fairburn |first=Charlotte |date=December 20, 2020 |url=https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/farquhar-ogilvie-laing-lifestyle |title=A medieval Highland castle and foundry of pop artist Gerald Laing, kept alive by his son |work=House & Garden |access-date=March 30, 2025}}{{cite magazine |last=Bennett |first=James |author-link=James Bennet (journalist) |date=September 20, 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/t-magazine/art/gerald-laing-artist-kinkell-castle.html |title=Inside a Pop Artist's Castle and His Inspiration – in the Scottish Highlands |work=The New York Times Style Magazine |access-date=March 30, 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616142841/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/t-magazine/art/gerald-laing-artist-kinkell-castle.html |archive-date=June 16, 2022}}

The castle has been A listed by Historic Scotland since March 25, 1971.

References

External links

{{Canmore |num=12823|desc=Kinkell Castle}}
{{cite book |last=Laing |first=Gerald |author-link=Gerald Laing |year=1984 |title=Kinkell: The Reconstruction Of a Scottish Castle |url=https://archive.org/details/kinkellreconstru0000lain/page/n1/mode/2up |location=Dingwall, Ross-shire |publisher=Ardullie House; Portland, Exclusive Distributor ISBS}}

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Kinkell Castle