Castle Stalker
Posted by: 
walkerm
N 56° 34.277 W 005° 23.180
30V E 353389 N 6272214
Castle Stalker is a four story tower house or keep picturesquely set on a small islet on Loch Laich, an inlet off Loch Linnhe.
Waymark Code: WM22BM
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/23/2007
Views: 78
The site is similar to the prehistoric crannogs, but the official website history page gives the origin of the castle as being a small fort built around 1320 by Clan MacDougall who were then Lords of Lorn. Around 1388 the Stewarts took over the Lordship of Lorn, and it is believed that they built the castle in its present form around the 1440s. The web-site tells a dramatic story of arguments, murders, hunting visits by the Stewart's relative King James IV of Scotland and a drunken bet around 1620 resulting in the castle passing to Clan Campbell. After changing hands between these clans a couple of times the Campbells finally abandoned the castle around 1840, when it lost its roof. Then in 1908 a Stewart bought the castle and carried out basic conservation work, and in 1965 Lt. Col. D. R. Stewart Allward acquired the castle and over about ten years fully restored it. Castle Stalker is in private ownership, but the official web-site (below) gives details of dates and arrangements by which visits can be made by appointment, subject to advance notice, weather and tides.
Accessibility: Partial access
Condition: Intact
Admission Charge?: no
Website: [Web Link]
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