Beaufort Castle

The following is from the Historic Environment Scotland Gardens and Designed Landscapes Inventory. For the most up-to-date Inventory entry, please visit the Historic Environment Scotland website:

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Type of Site

Extensive 19th century landscape park, pleasure grounds and woodland walks, incorporating features from an earlier designed landscape associated with earlier Castle.

Location and Setting

Beaufort Castle is situated directly north of Kiltarlity, 19km (13 miles) west of Inverness and 6.4km (4 miles) south-west of Beauly. The Castle stands on a slightly elevated rise on the south side of the River Beauly with parkland extending to its south-west and east. To its east, it overlooks the junction of the Dounie Burn with the Bruiach Burn which becomes the Belladrum Burn, and issues into the Beauly. There are few views to the Castle from the surrounding landscape as woodlands and belts of trees enclose the parkland.

The policies are important scenically as they contribute to the local landscape character.

The landscape park extends southwards from the River Beauly to the Home Farm. Ornamental walks lead along the Bruiach Burn, southwards from the Castle to the Walled Gardens and Nursery. To the east the designed landscape extended to the East Lodge on the Kiltarlity road. Belladrum designed landscape to the south-east was contiguous with the Beauly policies (1872, O.S 6") thereby an extensive area of parkland and plantings define the eastern approach to Kiltarlity.

Landscape Components

Architectural Features

Beaufort Castle designed by J M Wardrop in 1880, probably includes an earlier building. The drawing room wing and entrance hall were altered and restored in 1937 by Reginald Fairlie after a fire. It is Baronial in style and built of tooled red ashlar with polished ashlar dressings.

The Home Farm, to the south-west of the Castle, is a south-facing 'E' plan steading with a bellcote and is mainly single-storey. The West Lodge is an early 19th century cottage, altered in the late 19th century with gabletted domes. The East Lodge is c 1840, a T-plan gate lodge of coursed rubble with tooled sandstone dressings. With crowstepped gables, oriel windows and finials, the gate lodge incorporates two pairs of square ashlar gate piers.

The Walled Garden, early-mid 18th century, has rubble walls and is rectangular with curved brick-lined walls. It is some 300m in length from east-west.

The Gardens

By the mid 19th century there were a series of Summer Houses laid out within the pleasure grounds along the Bruiach Burn. Other Summer Houses were laid out along the banks of the River Beauly . A formal walk led along an escarpment to the west of Beaufort Castle, above the river (1872, OS 6"). Formal gardens lie to the south-east and east of the Castle. The parkland is informal in style with large clumps of trees and a serpentine approach drive leading in from the East Lodge (RCAHMS, Aerial photographs).

The ornamental planting includes major specimens of Caucasian fir (Abies nordmanniana), Noble fir (Abies procera), Monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucana), Crimean pine ( Pinus nigra var.caramanica), Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and Wellingtonia (Sequioadendron giganteum) (Tree Register of the British Isles, TROBI).