KINLOCH CASTLE LIBRARY
Written from personal on-site research and illustrated with photographs from
his archive by by George W. Randall, co-founder in July 1996 and former
Vice Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends' Association.
The contents of the library and the castle as a whole reflect the era they represent,
today they are a unique and valuable educational resource in their own right.
Copies of the original 1900 Castle Ground Floor Plan
and the layout post 1906 (and today) can be found at the end of this article.
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SEE ALSO:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3149945780622106744/6573515513542092755
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The Library in 1959 from Scot's Magazine.
Note Bronze Eagle in turret alcove now moved to the Great Hall.
The engraving of Stag at Bay is today found along the ground floor south corridor.
The portrait of John Bullough is still in the library on another wall - see image11 below.
 (circa. early 1950)   THIS DAMAGE DID NOT OCCUR OVERNIGHT - WHY WAS IT ALLOWED TO HAPPEN? THE RESULT OF SIXTY-SEVEN YEARS OF NEGLECT AND FAILURE!  THE SETTEE HAS BEEN UNCEREMONOUSLY DUMPED IN THE DAMP CELLAR. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE!  * SILK EMBROIDERD BACK 
Located on the south-west ground floor corner of the castle,
with direct access from the courtyard for day to day management
of the 26,400 acre island, the library we see today was originally
Sir George Bullough’s Business Room, the library being part of the Morning Room
(from 1906 the Empire Room) adjacent to a magnificent domed conservatory.
Sir George’s marriage and arrival of Lady Bullough heralded a new building programme –two more floors were added to the previously single story west wing – plus major re-assignment of south facing rooms, thus the change of Morning Room to Empire Room reflecting Lady Bullough’s French ancestry.
Note also the Boudoir becoming an integral part of the Drawing Room.
(See 1900 and post 1906 room plans below.) |
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George W. Randall Research and Photographic Archive
South-east corner. Note damp ingress on left wall around the curtain.Also note cased Golden Eagle and Hare has replaced bronze eagle. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sir George’s marriage in 1903 brought many changes as the new chatelaine took over the
sunny south facing rooms. The Morning Room became today's Empire Room with its emphasis
on all things French, Lady Bullough being the daughter of French aristocrat Gerard Gastavus Ducarel, 4th Marquis de la Pasture. It seems likely in order to house his library Sir George
was obliged to accommodate it in his Business Room.
The library is fitted with a suite of five open oak bookcases by James Shoolbred & Co.,
comprising two single section, one double section, (seen in above and right images),
one quadruple section and one single section with astraglazed doors, also visible in images above and right. |
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George W. Randall Research and Photographic Archive. (2005)
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Armed with the March 1978 Inventory of Books in the Library prepared by Phillips,
Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, Edinburgh, over several annual week long research visits,
up to and including 2012, I recorded and photographed in great detail the entire collection.
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The Inventory lists 1,100 titles extending to 1,333 numbered volumes.
In addition it records thirty-three Music Scores stored in the Gun Room, off the Great Hall
and forty Music Rolls for the Imhof and Mukle Orchestrion beneath the main staircase.
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| George W. Randall Research and Photographic Archive A doodling by George Bullough in his 1872 copy of The Public School Latin Primer, published by Longmans Green, one of about thirty of his school text books in the Castle Library.  |
1889-1896 editions of Brigade of Guards Magazine
and the single volume copy of:
A History of the
Coldstream Guards 1815-1895
Coldstream Guards 1815-1895
Individual losses within sets spoil otherwise complete works,
such as volumes 69 and 70 of Baily’s Magazine.
The recorded library contents today compared with the 1978 Inventory
highlight the missing volumes,
a particularly valuable loss being the “Kinloch Library List 1904”.
Over the years the library has suffered not only by unrestricted access by guests (when the castle was operated as an hotel), but extensively from damp ingress through
the walls and water damage from above.
Within the last few years a tap carelessly left running in the top floor former hostel bathroom did much damage to the Sir William Bass bedroom below and the Library ceiling below that,
destroying the original red silk shades of the
seven light steel electolier and rendering the fitting unusable.
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Below: examples of comparing The Catalogue of Library Books compiled by Phillips, Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, Edinburgh, March 1979
to photographic records in my Archive.
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© GWRR&PA
November 2006
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As a time capsule of an Edwardian Highland hunting lodge
Kinloch Castle is unique.
Today it is no longer open to staying guests, its catering facilities deliberately removed, but guided tours continue.
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George W. Randall Research and Photographic Archive. John Bullough's portrait has been relocated to the right of the library door. 
on the top shelf, sixty-three volumes of The Dictionary of National Biography,
the shelf below, a complete set Encyclopædia Britannica. Below again fifty-two titles by Sir Walter Scott novels.
The watercolour of Loch Scresort is by Byron Cooper.
The photogravure (right of doorway) depicts John Bullough,
Sir George’s father. by John Elliott & Clarence Edmond Fry,
55, Baker Street, London, and dates circa late 1880’s.
On top of bookcase by the door is one of a pair of 24 inch high fluted Imari vases painted
with panels of Shou Lao, deer, butterflies and flowers. 
Head study of the life-size bronze eagle today displayed in the Great Hall.
It has been moved at least twice to and from the Library
in the process sustaining damage!
* >< * >< * >< ** >< * >< * >< ** >< * >< * >< * THE LIBRARY IS THE HOME OF "THE PEDIGREE OF BULLOUGH"  The Bullough Pedigree traces the family back to "Stephen Bulhalgh Born circa. 1200 (who) Held lands in Kirkdale, County Lancaster. Through twenty-three generations to "Sir George Bullough of Kinloch Castle, Isle of Rhum and of Accrington. Born 28 February 1870 baptised at Christ Church, Accrington. Mentioned in his Father's Will in 1890. Knighted 1901. By Letters Patent dated 21 January 1916 he was created a Baronet of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to hold to him and the heirs male of his body." He married "Monica eldest daughter of Gerard Gustavus Ducarel, Marquis de la Pasture in the Kingdom of France. Married 24 June 1903 in the Isle of Rhum." Their daughter "Hermione, Born London, 5 November 1906 baptised at Bishopswood House, Ross-on-Wye."  |
GROUND FLOOR PLANS OF KINLOCH CASTLE
( NORTH → )
Comparing the full floor plan at completion in 1900 to that of today highlights many
changes to layout and room usage, with several internal walls removed,
which also affected the floor above.
which also affected the floor above.
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Apart from the Business Room becoming the library,
this ground floor plan following acquisition of the Castle and island from
Lady Bullough by the British Government on 28 February 1957 highlights significant
changes to room layout - note in particular the Dining Room and its access to the great Hall,
and use of former servant's and housekeeper's rooms. |
LATEST:
Regrettably the anticipated sale of Kinloch Castle to a Trust as published by Kinloch Castle Friends' Association in August 2022 was thwarted at the last moment by a minimal number of the Isle of Rum residents who feared development of the castle would turn it into an exclusive "playground" for the wealthy.
"The sale of Kinloch Castle, its contents and policies to a Trust is going ahead and it is hoped will be finalised very shortly. The surveyor being employed is Hugh Garratt LLB, FRICS, FAAV, of Smith and Garratt, the same firm we have employed to support us through our fight. Hugh knows and admires the Castle, has huge experience in this field and we have every confidence that the restoration of this iconic building will be completed sensitively and in best accord with our hopes that we could envisage. He is also coordinating with KCFA and is very aware of all the ways in which our knowledge can be of assistance to the restoration."
(Kinloch Castle Friends' Association - 5 August 2022.)
UPDATED 6 SEPTEMBER 2023
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