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SPAB
37 Spital Square
LONDON
E1 6DY

T: 020 7377 1644
F: 020 7247 5296
E: info@spab.org.uk

Charity No. 111 3753
Scottish Charity No. SC 039244
Company No.  5743962
VAT No. 577 4276 02
 
 

Caistel Tioram

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On February 13th 2002, the Caistel Tioram inquiry upheld the SPAB in Scotland's point of view.  The SPAB is delighted and hopes that the owner will now take steps to protect the castle for the enjoyment of future generations.
 
Surrounded by woods, ruined Castle Tioram stands on a tidal island in Loch Moidart on the West coast of Scotland. It can be seen from the sea and outlying islands and approached on foot at low tide.
 
Until the beginning of the seventeenth century Castle Tioram was a seat of the Lord of the Isles and one of the administrative and political centres for the West Highlands and Islands. In the 1715 rebellion, after re-capturing their old castle from the Hanovarians, the Macdonalds then torched the building rather than let it fall into enemy hands. And it has stood as a romantic monument to the Jacobite uprising ever since.
 
In 1996 the site was put up for sale by its American owners and purchased by Anta Estates Ltd, acting for an anonymous offshore owner.
 
Anta Estates lodged a planning application with Highland District Council to convert the ruin into a private house, which would involve closing off free public access, building access roads, roofing the ruin, putting in electricity, plumbing and other modern conveniences, which was granted. However, as the ruin is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument, alterations to the building require Ancient Monument Consent, which the Scottish Ministers declared they were minded to refuse.
 
In 2001 the case went to an unprecedently long Local Public Inquiry, where SPAB in Scotland, alongside Historic Scotland spoke against restoration and in favour of loving the building for what it is.