Kilchurn Castle

Colin Campbell built the tower house around 1450 on a small island at the northern end of Loch Awe, reached by an underwater causeway; the loch level was lowered in 1817 when the outflow was altered for a hydro and drainage scheme, and the island became a peninsula joined to the shore by marshy ground. The castle was extended in the seventeenth century with a barracks block, among the earliest purpose-built in Britain, and abandoned after lightning brought down a tower in 1760; one of the fallen turrets lies upside down in the courtyard where it landed. The setting, with the ruin low against the loch and Ben Cruachan behind, makes it one of the most photographed castles in Scotland. Access is on foot from a car park, along a track and under a railway bridge.

What to look for

• The fallen turret - a tower top lying upside down where lightning dropped it in 1760.
• The barracks block - among the earliest purpose-built barracks in Britain.
• The former island - a site joined to the shore when the loch was lowered in 1817.
• The Cruachan backdrop - the mountain rising directly behind the ruin.

When to go

April to October; the approach floods in wet periods and the interior is closed at times for safety work, though the exterior can always be walked to. Still mornings give the reflection the castle is photographed for.

Things to know

The walk in is fifteen minutes on a rough track that is often waterlogged, and the ground around the castle is boggy. The interior has been closed for extended periods for masonry repairs. There are no facilities at the site.

Nearby

Loch Awe village and the Cruachan hydro station are close; Oban lies west.

Key facts