Sundial, Glengarry Castle Hotel, Invergarry

The Glengarry Castle Hotel, formerly Invergarry House, its stables, and a sundial represent a significant estate development from the mid-19th century. Edward Ellice of Invergarry and his son undertook a building program that included the mansion house, an estate village, and associated buildings. The hotel itself dates to 1866 and 1869, with additions in 1875-77, and was designed by architect David Bryce, with the stables by J MacVicar Anderson.

The hotel is a large, two-storey and attic rambling house constructed in the Scottish Baronial style, forming an irregular L-shape. The north side features a gabled entrance porch within a courtyard, while the south (garden) front is symmetrical with four bays. The exterior is predominantly tooled ashlar with polished ashlar dressings. The symmetrical south elevation is characterized by projecting canted bays that rise to gabled attics, topped with small bipartite windows and central pedimented dormers. A low terraced balustrade links the canted bays, with a central staircase leading to lower, rubble-walled terraces. A projecting gabled bay with a canted window provides a prominent feature to the west, along with two simpler bays featuring dormers above. An extensive wing extends to the northeast, incorporating a corbelled angle tower to the southeast, and a small bellcote on a single-story gable. The windows are mainly two-pane sash, and the building is topped with tall coped ridge, end, and wallhead stacks, along with slate roofs.

The interior retains features such as an original staircase with carved wooden balusters, some original chimney pieces, and moulded cornices to the ceilings. The U-shaped, single-story and attic stable block is linked to the main house by a segmental-headed archway with a pediment. The east-facing stable court is enclosed by a high coped wall with square ashlar gate piers, capped with mouldings and ball finials.

A stumpy octagonal, facetted sundial stands on a moulded octagonal stem, set on a low octagonal stone base and believed to be a survival from an earlier house. Two carved plaques are located on the northwest face, inscribed in English and Gaelic. A plaque with Ellice and D MacVicar Anderson monograms, inscribed “Architect” and dated 1869, is present on the east side. The house appears to have replaced an earlier structure previously belonging to Lord Ward.