Description:

This was a hunting lodge of Scottish kings and is also associated with the Stewart family.

It is believed Robert the Bruce landed at this spot on his return from Ireland in 1306 as he began his successful campaign to become king of Scotland. The castle was later owned by his grandson when he became King Robert II of Scotland in 1371. The following years saw it used as a royal hunting lodge.

During the 1490s, Lochranza Castle was used as a base from which James IV could attack the MacDonalds (Lords of the Isles). James VI took control of the castle in 1614 and the English Parliamentarian leader Cromwell took control in the1650s. The last owners, the Hamiltons, acquired the castle in 1705.  During the course of the eighteenth century, the castle fell into disuse and disrepair and was then abandoned.