A Rum ideal

One of the most impressive houses in Scotland can be found on the remote Isle of Rum. Marieke Smegen pays it a visit

Imagine an extravagant 19th century house, built by 300 people, during a period of three years. The house is built to impress - and only the most privileged people are allowed to visit. This describes Kinloch Castle: an imposing house on the remote Isle of Rum.

The castle was built in 1897 for Sir George Bullough: a rich English industrialist who inherited the Isle of Rum from his father. While his father had been content with the reasonable Kinloch House, Sir George decided he needed something bigger and much better than that.

Kinloch Castle covers 50 square metres over two levels. It cost £250,000 to build at the time – which is around £15 million in today's terms.

For Sir George, Kinloch Castle was nothing more than a grand shooting lodge. Guests would stay in the castle and go out shooting the hundreds of deer that had been introduced to the island. Lavish parties also took place in the private ballroom that was shielded from the servants by serving hatches.

The gardens at Kinloch were very impressive. Several ships had delivered huge amounts of soil for the grand gardens to be designed. There was a great variety of exotic plants and extensive lawns. The conservatory attached to the castle housed hummingbirds, while the pond was home to alligators and tortoises. Sir George loved the exotic.

In the Boer War, Sir George helped look after wounded soldiers. His huge ship Rhouma was sent to Africa to aid the injured. They were taken back to Rum and cared for in the ca...

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• By : Marieke Smegen
• In : Best of Scotland
• Issue : 26
• Page : 40
• Words : 990