Armadale Castle, once home to the Macdonalds of Sleat of Clan Donald, is now a dramatic ruin overlooking the Sound of Sleat and set within 40 acres of woodland gardens. The site has roots in Clan Donald’s 15th-century presence on Skye, with the current buildings developing from a late 18th-century mansion expanded into a castle in 1815 by architect James Gillespie Graham. After a major fire in 1855, parts were rebuilt by David Bryce, but the castle was abandoned in 1925 and later became derelict. It was bought by the Clan Donald Lands Trust in 1972, with unsafe sections demolished in 1981, and was purchased by Armadale Estate Ltd in 2026. Famous visitors and figures linked to the site include Flora Macdonald, Samuel Johnson, and James Boswell. Visit Armadale Castle on the Isle of Skye. Click on the link to view the dancing party on the lawn from 1930.

For Thursday Doors: Summer Standard – No Facilities

Cill Chriosd, also known as Kilchrist Church, is a ruined 16th-century parish church on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, located on the B8083 road between Broadford and Elgol in Strath Suardal. It served as the parish church for Strath for over 300 years, including the clearance villages of Boreraig and Susinish.

Christian worship at this site is thought to date back to the 7th century, when St Mael Ruba preached from nearby Cnoc na-Aifhreann (“Hill of the Mass”). The first stone church here likely appeared in the medieval period, and the present ruins replaced that earlier structure in the 1500s. Written records begin in 1505 with chaplain Kenneth Adamson. The first Protestant minister, Neil Mackinnon, was appointed in 1627; he was known for his strictness and reportedly reporting Catholics to authorities. The church was used until 1840, when the parish was moved to Broadford. The site now stands roofless, with parts of the earlier medieval west gable still visible.

The ruins are a low, rubble-built rectangle, about 53 ft long by 17.5 ft wide, with walls up to 8 ft high and over 2 ft thick. The south wall has three inwardly splayed windows, and the east gable features a balustraded burial enclosure for Clan Mackinnon. Inside, the nave measures roughly 52 ft 9 in by 17 ft 6 in. The building is oriented about 30° from east–west and has no openings on the north or west walls.

Cill Chriosd sits atop a small mound, with a graveyard containing 18th–19th century gravestones, some Celtic crosses, and a section of a crudely carved cross head. Nearby, Beinn Na Caillich rises to the west, and Loch Cill Chriosd lies to the south-west. The site offers panoramic views of Strath Suardal and the surrounding mountains.