Moniack Castle, Category B listed castle in Kirkhill, Scotland
Moniack Castle is a tower house with an L-shaped plan, located near Kirkhill in the Scottish Highlands and listed as a Category B building. Its walls are rendered with polished stone margins, and three curved bays stand out on the northwest side of the facade.
The tower was built around 1600 and received its crenellated top in 1804, added by architect James Smith. Major works carried out between 1830 and 1840 gave the building the form it has today.
The chapel inside holds a Roman Catholic altar with Ionic columns, showing how Scottish noble families kept their faith alive within their own home. Private spaces like this one remind visitors that grand houses once served as places of worship as much as places of residence.
Entry is through a square doorway at the base of the tower, framed by dressed stone. It is worth walking around the outside first to see the curved bays and the original iron window grilles up close.
The spiral staircase inside is unusually wide for a tower of this size, connecting floors that do not all sit at the same level. This kind of internal layout was rare in tower houses of the period and points to careful planning at the time of construction.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
