Carbisdale Castle
| Carbisdale Castle | |
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Carbisdale Castle
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| Location | Kyle of Sutherland, Scottish Highlands |
| Coordinates | 57°55′32″N 4°24′32″W / 57.9255°N 4.409°WCoordinates: 57°55′32″N 4°24′32″W / 57.9255°N 4.409°W |
| OS grid reference | NH574954 |
| Built | 1905-1917 |
| Built for | Duchess of Sutherland |
| Architect | John Robertson |
| Architectural style(s) | Scots Baronial |
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Listed Building – Category B
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| Designated | 18 March 1971 |
| Reference no. | 7165 |
 Location of Carbisdale Castle in Highland council area
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Carbisdale Castle was built in 1907 for the Duchess of Sutherland on a hill across the Kyle of Sutherland from Invershin in the Scottish Highlands. Until 2011 it was used as a youth hostel, operated by the Scottish Youth Hostels Association. The castle is situated north of Culrain, and around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-west of Bonar Bridge. The castle is in the Scots Baronial style, and is protected as a category B listed building. The hostel closed for repair in 2011, and as of August 2014[update] was put up for sale for £1.2m. In April 2016, the asking price was lowered to £900,000, and a sale was completed in September 2016. The buyers are FCFM Group Ltd who stated they intend to make it "a world-class private residence".
The castle was built between 1905 and 1917 for Mary Caroline, Duchess of Sutherland, the second wife of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland, whom she married in 1889. She is better known as "Duchess Blair" because of her first marriage to Captain Arthur Kindersely Blair of the 71st Highland Light Infantry, who died in a hunting accident in 1883 near Pitlochry. The marriage was not well liked in the Sutherland family. When the Duke died in 1892 his will, in favour of the Duchess, was contested by his son and heir Cromartie. In a court process that followed, the Duchess was found guilty of destroying documents and was imprisoned for six weeks in London.
Eventually, the Sutherland family came to an agreement giving Duchess Blair a substantial financial settlement. Furthermore, the family agreed to build a castle for the Duchess, as long as it was outside of the Sutherland lands. The Duchess employed a firm of Ayrshire builders and work started in 1906 just outside the Sutherland lands in Ross-shire. It was located on a hillside to be visible to a large part of Sutherland, especially the main road and rail line which the Sutherland family would have to use to travel south. Thus it became known as the "Castle of Spite" as it was widely considered that the Duchess located the castle there to spite her husband's family and the settlement agreement. This is further supported by the fact that the castle's tower only has clocks on three of its four faces - the side facing Sutherland is blank, supposedly because the Duchess did not wish to give the time of day to her former relatives.
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