Achnacarry Castle

Overview and Early History

Achnacarry Castle stands on a narrow isthmus between Loch Arkaig and Loch Lochy in the West Highlands of Scotland. Its Gaelic name, Achadh na Caraidh, means “field of the fish‑trap.” The site has been the seat of the chiefs of Clan Cameron since the mid‑17th century. Sir Ewen “Dubh” Cameron of Lochiel, the seventeenth chief, built the first Achnacarry around 1655 after moving the clan seat from Tor Castle. Descriptions of this house portray it as a grand timber lodge built of fir planks – “the handsomest of that kind in Britain” – with pillared halls and a reputation for hospitality. It was more a hunting lodge and feasting hall than a fortress, set amid birch and pine woods between the lochs.

The Camerons’ steadfast support for the Jacobite cause brought tragedy in 1746. After the defeat at Culloden, government troops marched to Achnacarry and burned the house to the ground as punishment for the clan’s role in the rising. Donald Cameron, nineteenth chief and known as “the Gentle Lochiel,” watched the blaze from the hillside. The family fled abroad, their estates were forfeited and the ruins of Achnacarry stood empty for more than fifty years. The estates were restored to the Camerons in 1784, but only after heavy fines were paid and the chiefs accepted a new order imposed by the Crown.

A New Baronial Home

Donald Cameron, the twenty‑second chief, decided to rebuild Achnacarry as his principal residence. Construction of the new house began in 1802 to designs by the Edinburgh architect James Gillespie Graham and used masons from Glasgow under contractor Robert Ferguson. Conceived in the Scottish Baronial style, the mansion featured turrets, battlements and crow‑stepped gables, more evocative of a romantic castle than its timber‑built predecessor. Progress was slow: the chief’s wife disliked the remote estate and the project halted for long periods, so that when surveyor Joseph Mitchell visited in 1837 the house still lay unfinished, with pine doors and decorative plasterwork stacked on the floors. Later chiefs completed the work and landscaped the grounds with beech avenues and gardens. Queen Victoria visited in 1873 and sketched the scenery during a steamer trip on Loch Arkaig.

In September 1928 the baronial house hosted a clandestine gathering of oil magnates, culminating in the “Achnacarry Agreement” (“As‑Is Agreement”) which attempted to curb overproduction by setting global petroleum quotas. Although the agreement had limited success, its secret negotiations cemented Achnacarry’s status as an unlikely stage for world politics.

Castle Commando and Later History

During the Second World War, Colonel Sir Donald Hamish Cameron vacated Achnacarry and offered it to the British military. From March 1942 the Commando Basic Training Centre operated here, turning the house and estate into “Castle Commando.” Recruits from Britain, the United States, the Free French and other Allied nations trained on the rugged grounds, undertaking assault courses, mountain marches and live‑fire exercises. An estimated 25,000 men earned their green berets at Achnacarry before the school closed in 1945. The intense exercises took their toll: on 5 November 1943 a training accident started a fire that gutted the mansion’s central block and roof, which the army replaced with tin. Another blaze later damaged the house, but it survived and was repaired.

After the war the Camerons returned. Achnacarry once again became the clan’s principal seat and a focus for gatherings: international Clan Cameron reunions were held there in 2001 and 2009. The estate is sometimes called the “spiritual headquarters of the Commandos” and the Commando Memorial at nearby Spean Bridge commemorates those who trained there.

Current Status

Achnacarry Castle remains a private family home occupied by the present chief of Clan Cameron. It is not open to the public, but the surrounding grounds are home to the Clan Cameron Museum, established a short distance from the house. The museum displays clan artefacts, Jacobite relics and exhibits on the wartime commando training. Visitors may also explore the striking landscape, where beech avenues and woodlands planted in the eighteenth century still frame views across Loch Arkaig and Loch Lochy. Although the timber‑built “Old Achnacarry” vanished in the flames of 1746, its baronial successor endures as a symbol of Cameron resilience and as a memorial to both clan heritage and commando courage.