Scotland · Still standing
Dunderave Castle
Dunderave Castle is a 16th-century L-plan Scottish tower house that served as the seat of the MacNaughton clan. It stands on a small promontory on the northern shore of Loch Fyne, was remodelled and had its gardens relandscaped in 1911, and remains a privately owned residence.
First raised
1500
Its prime
1911
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1911
What Dunderave Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact L-plan stone tower house of local grey ashlar set on a rocky promontory into Loch Fyne. The composition shows a taller rectangular main block with a shorter projecting wing forming the L, small vertical windows and larger domestic openings, pitched slate roofs with several chimney stacks, and low retaining walls to the shore. It sits against wooded slopes and distant snow-capped hills, complete and used as a residence at its 1911 reworking.
Its story
The story of Dunderave Castle.
The MacNaughton Seat, 1473-1591
The MacNachtans were designated 'of Dunderave' from as early as 1473. The present L-plan castle, raised in the 16th century as the Scottish seat of the MacNaughton clan, was built after their earlier castle was destroyed following a plague infection; that older castle and the remnants of MacNaughton crannogs can still be seen on the lochan known as the Dubh Loch, at the head of Glen Shira. The castle stands on a small promontory on the northern shore of Loch Fyne, around 5 kilometres north-east of Inveraray in Argyll.
Alexander Campbell of Cawdor visited Dunderave in September 1591.
The Knoll on the Promontory, or the Castle of Two Oars
The name Dunderave is of Gaelic origin, and since the family carried the designation from 1473 the place-name appears to have travelled with the clan from the Dubh Loch. It has been suggested that it derives either from Dun-an-Rudha, 'The Knoll on the Promontory', or else from Dun-da-Ramh, 'The Castle of Two Oars'. The second reading is taken to imply that a ferry ran near the site of the castle.
Lorimer's Remodelling and Category A Listing, from 1911
Sir Robert Lorimer restored and remodelled the castle in 1911, relandscaping the gardens at the same time. Dunderave was added to the list of category A listed buildings in July 1971. It remains in private ownership and in use as a residence.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1911.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Dunderave Castle, including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Dunderave Castle.
The families that held Dunderave Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
MacNaughton
Seat of the MacNaughton clan, designated 'of Dunderave' from as early as 1473.
