The broken shell of a 15th-century tower house on a spit of land in Loch Assynt, ringed by some of the wildest hills in Scotland
Open accessScotland's right of responsible access applies
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Ardvreck Castle is a ruined tower house — a tall fortified home built for defence — on a rocky promontory that pushes out into Loch Assynt. The MacLeods of Assynt raised it around 1490. Its best-known moment came in 1650, when the Marquess of Montrose, defeated in a battle nearby, was held here before being handed to his enemies and taken to Edinburgh to be executed. Not much remains today: a broken tower and fragments of wall, open to the wind. The setting is the real draw, deep in the Assynt–Coigach country under Quinag and Canisp, and you can wander up to the ruin freely from the roadside.
