Location and Status

Council : Highland Council

Grid Reference : NM 402 996

Category : Category "A" Listed Building

Conservation Area : The Isle of Rum is a designated National Nature Reserve

Brief Description

The East Facade of the Castle looking south.

A square, castellated late Victorian Hunting Lodge commissioned by Sir George Bullough, Baronet, in 1897. Designed by London Architects Leeming and Leeming the two story building round a central courtyard is constructed of red sandstone under a slate roof. It is surrounded on three sides by an open, semi-elliptically arched verandah. To the rear a large walled garden survives along with the derelict remains of a south facing 14 section greenhouse, 300 feet long. Against the opposing and north facing wall side are the remnants of an extensive range of palmhouses with potting sheds and boiler house.

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Present Use

In 1957 the island of Rum, including Kinloch Castle, was purchased for £23,000 with public funds by the Conservative government of the day from Lady Bullough, widow of the Laird. The Deed of Sale stipulated that the island was to be "used in perpetuity as a nature reserve and Kinloch Castle maintained as far as may be practicable". Today it is in the care of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), an environmental agency with responsibility to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh. At no time since acquisition has government allocated specific funding, or assistance towards the care of the Castle. Despite this, SNH have tried to stay on top of the worst that the ravages of weather and time have inflicted on both the building and its original collection of period contents, which together make the Castle unique. For several years the Castle was used as an hotel, guests enjoying unfettered use of all the rooms. Since 1996 only hostel style accommodation has been available in the former Servant's Quarters, the principal rooms being maintained as a museum.

Together with former cottages and outbuildings, used today as bothies, the Castle caters for a wide variety of visitors, school groups on field trips, private associations whose interests lie in walking, mountaineering, ornithology etc., academics and research students from British, European and American universities, and the general public. Currently ten thousand people visit Rum annually, a number which will rise dramatically over the coming years with the new and larger ferry from Mallaig and the brand new landing facilities on Rum. Most members of the public visit the island as day visitors; the average length of stay for overnight guests being three days. Four secondary main Castle double-bedrooms, a limited number of two/three bed Family Rooms and three multi-bed dormitories are available, in total some fifty bed spaces per night. The Castle provides no en-suite facilities. Breakfast and evening meal may be taken in the Bistro Dining Room. A fully equipped kitchen and dining area are available for self caterers. A Laboratory/Lecture Room with video, overhead and slide projection facilities, Common Room, Sitting Room, Laundry and Drying Room are also available for visitors. A public telephone is provided at the Castle and a kiosk is located by the foreshore. The most limiting factor on the island is the generation of electric power; therefore guests should not expect the same level of amenities as they would find in a similar mainland situation.

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Previous Use

The heyday of the Castle as an Edwardian Hunting Lodge was from its completion in 1900 until the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. Thereafter, despite attempts by the Laird to recapture the Edwardian ambience, the Castle commenced its slow decline. As the owner's interest faded, so likewise did his investment necessary in order to maintain everything to the highest of standards. This hastened the effects of time and the elements. Sir George Bullough died in 1939 and thereafter Kinloch Castle was little used by the family. It remained staffed, albeit at nowhere near the pre-1914 level, and was let for the autumn Stalking Season. Lady Bullough visited the island for the last time in 1954 and agreed to sell the island and fully furnished Castle to the nation in 1957.

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Suggested / Favoured Future Uses

Very broadly a continuation of the present arrangements; i.e. hostel accommodation and period museum, keeps both the Castle operational and the contents in situ. The desire by SNH to divest themselves of all non-natural heritage activities on the island, and their stated aim to create a vibrant community on Rum, together combine to open many possibilities for both island residents and the Castle in terms of job creation, economic development and long term social stability. It continues the Castle's present use as a centre for a wide range of educational, research and interest activities that can be enjoyed by all, and not an exclusive, rich man's hideaway for the few.

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Condition

The Library showing severe water ingress to the west wall and fungal growth along the crown, picture and cornice molding.

The Castle continues to slowly deteriorate and will soon reach a point beyond which health and safety issues become a factor to it remaining open for the visiting public. Maintenance has been minimal since 1957, falling well short of what was really required. This is due to several factors, mainly lack of specific funding by government, and the Castle being left in the care of an inappropriate organisation, whose remit is environmental and not the management of one hundred year old castles and their contents. The building has suffered extensively from water ingress over many decades. The roof is in need of attention and the sandstone walls and mullions require pointing and treatment with modern water repellants. Dry rot has appeared in several rooms and was diagnosed in roof and floor timbers by Structural Engineers, Dinardo & Partners of Inverness in 1986. Mould affects walls and ceilings, particularly the Ball Room and Library. The ornate and extensive oak and mahogany paneling, respectively in the Great Hall and Dining Room, calls for urgent attention. All the furnishings have, to a greater or lesser degree, suffered from exposure to unfettered public use and ignorant abuse, during the Castle's use as an exclusive hotel until 1995.

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Reason for Risk

From the late 1920's to 1957, with their interests in Kinloch Castle waning and a new home commissioned at Newmarket in 1928, Sir George and Lady Bulloughs' visits to the island of Rum became less frequent. Consequently, starved of the investment necessary to maintain everything to the highest standard, the pace and extent of the deterioration gained momentum. Following Sir George's death in 1939, to 1957, the Castle was little used by the family, usually being let each year for the Stalking Season.

For the last forty five years the island and Castle have been in public ownership, firstly in the charge of the Nature Conservancy (N.C.) and today the onus of responsibility falls upon Scottish Natural Heritage. The Royal Charter of these respective agencies enshrines neither funding nor mandatory requirement for the care of Kinloch Castle. This fact is fundamental to the present situation. Additionally, the reason for risk lies in the initial failure by the N.C. and overseeing government representatives to place the Castle and its contents in the care of a more appropriate body. Subsequently, complete failure by visiting SNH Board members and management, government ministers, museum and gallery officials etc. to initiate appropriate action, when it has been all too apparent for many years that the Castle was, and still is, in very serious trouble through lack of maintenance. Letters from visitors to SNH and parliamentarians has consistently failed to stimulate concern into practical action.

Legally and morally, an undertaking was made to Lady Bullough that Kinloch Castle would be cared for, this has not been the case. As Sir George, his father and Lady Bullough are interred on Rum; it goes without saying that they loved the island and their Highland home. Lady Bullough, by agreeing to the nominally priced sale, clearly wished to secure both in the public domain and for the public good. For the signatories to the "Deed of Sale" to have failed to ensure that the terms agreed were fulfilled; if not by them, then by a more appropriate body; they, and their successors, are subject to a charge of gross neglect of a public asset purchased and still operated with public funds.

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Owner/Agent

Scottish Natural Heritage, 12, Hope Terrace, Edinburgh, Scotland. EH9 2AS.
Telephone: 0131 446 4784
Facsimile: 0131 447 2277

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Current Availability

It is the publicly stated aim of SNH to divest itself of all activities on Rum which do not fall within their mandate. It is also their wish to build a strong and vibrant community on the island of Rum, which currently has a population of less than thirty, mostly employees of SNH It is understood that the most favoured option would be the formation of a Trust to assume responsibility for the care, maintenance and operation of the Castle and the campsite etc. This option is equally favoured by the Kinloch Castle Friends Association, and was made known to Roger Crofts, SNH Chief Executive at the time. As part of a socio-economic plan for the island, a properly managed Kinloch Castle would create many new full and part-time jobs. Jobs which would no longer tie the residents to SNH, an organisation they themselves have described as "a modern day feudal landlord".

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Marketing Notes

Standing within the 500 acres of Kinloch Township, Kinloch Castle could be commercially marketed without impinging in any way upon the remaining 25,800 acres of Nature Reserve. Development of the bothies, campsite, together with improved and increased facilities at the Castle, a range of visitor services such as escorted trips to other parts of the island, pony trekking, boat trips, tearoom, grocery/craft shop, bar, bed and breakfast etc., would generate jobs; bringing economic security and social stability for the islanders. Support, interest, and a desire for success by the Community, are essential if their aspirations and those for Kinloch Castle are to be fulfilled.

For forty five years Rum has been considered the Forbidden Isle and its greatest public asset, Kinloch Castle, still remains one of Great Britain's best kept secrets. The Castle is a unique part of the history of the Highlands of Scotland; it should be developed for the benefit of the visiting public and island Community, not only as a remarkable place to stay and enjoy, but also as a Field Study Centre of the natural and non-natural heritage that is to be found in such profusion on this incredible Small Isle.

These notes are an all too brief summary of a fourteen thousand word; full colour illustrated Appraisal of Kinloch Castle written by George W. Randall, Joint Founder and Vice Chairman, Kinloch Castle Friends Association, who has made some thirty visits, totaling seven months, to the island over a ten year period. George Randall has contributed extensively to works on Rum by Magnus Magnusson, KBE, Scottish Natural Heritage, and The Reader's Digest. He researched and compiled a history of Kinloch Castle and the Bullough family which was published in 2000 as part of a Discovering Local History series by Wharncliffe Books, Ltd., and has produced fourteen editions of the Kinloch Castle Friends Association's Newsletter.
Contact George Randall e-mail :- usaenquiries@kcfa.org.uk.

KCFA/GWR/11. 10. 2002 © COPYRIGHT