Dunvegan Castle really was built to last – Scotsman comment

After 800 years, Dunvegan Castle is in need of major repairs, but so is the bedrock on which it sits

Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland (Picture: CM Dixon/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

They don’t make ’em like they used to? Dunvegan Castle on Skye certainly seems to be a physical embodiment of the adage. For nearly 800 years, the castle has stood up to everything that the wild weather of Scotland’s Atlantic seaboard has thrown at it.

Furthermore, it is the only castle in the Highlands to have been held by the same family, the MacLeods, throughout its existence – a claim to fame reflected in the clan motto, “Hold Fast”. Given its long history, it is perhaps no surprise that Dunvegan has started to show its venerable age and is now in need of repairs to ensure it remains a fixture for another eight centuries and more.

Damage has been found in the castle’s famous Fairy Tower, built around 1500, and parts of the rampart wall have been eroded. However, it is important to stress that this is no slight on the quality of the original builders’ work – another problem is that even the bedrock on which the castle stands has deteriorated. Now that’s what we call ‘built to last’.