Duncraig Castle, 19th-century castle in Highland, Scotland
Duncraig Castle is a castle on the southern shore of Loch Carron in the Scottish Highlands, surrounded by woodland and looking out over the sea loch. The property has around eighty rooms across its main building and several outbuildings, including an octagonal water tower, a coach house, and a jetty, along with two small private islands nearby.
The castle was built in 1866 for Alexander Matheson, a parliamentarian who had made his fortune in trade with China. During World War II it was used as a naval hospital, and after the war it became a home economics college before returning to private ownership.
Duncraig Castle is built in the Scottish Baronial style, with turrets, stepped gables, and granite walls that are common across the Highlands. The grounds also hold a small chapel and a coach house, giving the whole estate the feel of a self-contained Highland settlement.
The castle sits in a remote part of the Highlands and is most easily reached by train on the Kyle of Lochalsh line, which stops at the small Duncraig station right on the estate. The property also has its own jetty, so arriving by boat across Loch Carron is another option for those exploring the area by water.
Duncraig station, built in the early 1900s for the private use of the estate's owner, is today one of the least-used request stops on the entire British rail network. Passengers must signal the driver to stop there, making it feel more like a country halt than a proper railway station.
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