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Urquhart Castle, spectacularly sited on the shores of Loch Ness in
the Scottish Highlands, opened its new £5 million visitor centre at
the end of November.
The property, in the care of Historic Scotland, has long been a
quintessential highland landmark, but today’s ruins gave little
indication of the power struggles that had been played out on its
grounds for more than 1000 years.
Historic Scotland’s new visitor centre hopes to provide the missing
story of Urquhart through interpretation, artefact displays and a
short film covering Urquhart Castle’s story from the time of St
Columba to the Jacobite rebellion. The centre also offers visitors
improved parking and facilities purpose-built to make the most of
its lochside setting.
Many of the artefacts date from Urquhart’s medieval heyday as a
fortress home to some of Scotland’s most influential families.
Visitors to the centre can discover how such a household was managed
and see how the artefacts build upon the story. Among the
discoveries on display, for example, are tuning pins for a small
harp; a fine pewter ewer and also bundles of arrow shafts ready for
longbows.
The centre is an innovative design that combines environmental
efficiency with ease of access. A café, retail outlet, educational
space and washroom facilities are also included in the design. The
centre is set back into a manmade hill, so that visitors access it
from the car park and make their way down using either an elevator
or stairs. There is wheelchair access throughout, and panoramic
views to the castle and the loch beyond from all areas. Part of the
overall project was also to widen the A82 – the main road along Loch
Ness – so that there are now turning lanes into the car park for
traffic coming from either direction.
Urquhart Castle is one of Scotland’s largest and has seen many
battles and sieges throughout its 500-year history as a medieval
fortress. Evidence of the siting of some kind of fortified residence
on the promontory goes back to Pictish times during a missionary
visit by St Columba about AD 580. The holy man called at the home in
Glen Urquhart of an elderly noble Pict named Emchath and converted
him and his household to Christianity.
The first record of a castle at Urquhart comes more than 600 years
after Columba’s visit. By the year 1250 Alan Durward was lord of
Urquhart. As brother-in-law of King Alexander III, Alan was one of
the most influential men in Scotland, widely recognised as the power
behind the throne. The stronghold that Alan established at Urquhart
continued to be of strategic importance throughout the Wars of
Independence with England sparked by the untimely death of Alexander
III.
Soon after the Wars began in 1296, the English Army captured
Urquhart. Within two years, the castle was back in Scottish hands
during the resistance, led by William Wallace. Over the next half
century it changed hands many times.
Urquhart’s stirring history continued with frequent raids by the
Macdonald Lords of Isles in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1509,
the Chief of Clan Grant was granted the castle. It was last
inhabited by Government troops following the Jacobite Rising of
1689.
Urquhart Castle is open all year, seven days a week. Oct-Mar
9.30am-4.30pm; April-Sept 9.30am-6.30pm. Admission: adults £5.50;
children £1.20; reduced £4.00. Tel: 01456 450551 |