Old Inverlochy Castle

Robert the Bruce’s defeat of Comyn power brought Inverlochy under royal control in the early fourteenth century. It appears to have been little used for a considerable period afterwards. The standing ruin should not automatically be read as the result of one identifiable siege or fire: archaeology and the fabric record a longer sequence of occupation, alteration and neglect. The history of political control and the history of individual walls do not always run in exact parallel.

The military plan deserves close attention. The largest corner tower, usually called Comyn’s Tower, served as the principal tower of the enclosure. A landward entrance faced south, and another opening linked the castle to the river on the north. A ditch protected the other sides. Portcullises and heavy doors controlled passage through the walls, while buildings within the courtyard provided the accommodation and services needed to sustain the household.

Inverlochy is associated with two distinct battles. In 1431 forces supporting the Lord of the Isles defeated a royal army led by the Earl of Mar near the castle. In 1645 the royalist army of the Marquess of Montrose and Alasdair MacColla defeated Covenanting forces. These events should not be merged into a continuous siege of the fortress. The surrounding ground was a battlefield because the location remained strategically significant, even when the castle’s own role had changed.

Between those battles the building also served a less spectacular purpose. From the early sixteenth century the Gordon Earl of Huntly used Inverlochy in his role as sheriff, and it functioned as a court of justice. This administrative chapter matters: a castle could exercise power through hearings and decisions as well as armed defence. The enclosure was a place where authority was performed, not simply a defensive shell waiting for the next attack.

The construction of a Cromwellian fort in 1654 contributed to the old castle’s abandonment. That newer military site belonged to the development of Fort William, not a rebuilding of the four-towered medieval enclosure. Later, the old castle was used for storing pig iron, and nineteenth-century conservation altered parts of its surroundings and presentation. The nearby Victorian Inverlochy Castle, now a hotel, is also a separate building; the shared name can otherwise obscure the difference between them.

Excavations undertaken between 1983 and 1995, and published by John Lewis and Helen Smith, provide an archaeological basis for understanding the site alongside older architectural descriptions. Today it is a scheduled monument in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Check the current access notice before travelling, and follow any conservation fencing or restricted routes. From permitted viewpoints, compare the towers, the river entrance and the open courtyard. The strongest impression is of a compact medieval seat whose geographical importance outlasted its original owners, and whose history includes law, storage and conservation as well as warfare.