Dunvegan Castle & Armadale Castle Inner Hebrides

November 22nd 2018

“What draws these islands together is the proximity

of the sea – not just its climatic influence, which makes

the summers cool, the winters mild and the climate wet,

but also the fact that, historically, it was the seas around

the islands that were the main thoroughfares and first

line of defence. Island history is also the history of clans:

the MacLeods of Skye, for example, and the Macleans of

Mull. Being built for defence, their castles don’t always

have gardens. However, on Skye there is an interesting

garden surrounding the ruins of Armadale Castle, which

is lovely in spring, and also at Dunvegan Castle, which

has a lush water garden behind its forbidding exterior.

The castles may have taken most of the best sites, but

there are many more modest homesteads that typify the

difficulties and rewards of gardening on this terrain.”

  

Dunvegan Castle