Inverie House

Inverie House
© LHOON

Inverie House lies on the Knoydart peninsula, some 800 m south of the village of Inverie on the north shore of Loch Nevis. The location is genuinely isolated, between Loch Nevis (Heaven) and Loch Hourn (Hell), with access only possible by ferry from Mallaig (45 minutes), or a 20 mile hike across country known as the Rough Bounds. There are some seven miles of tarred road on the peninsula, but these have no connection with the main road system, and are used only by the residents who, unlike visitors, are able to have their vehicles ferried over.

Inverie House was built in the early 19th century for the last of the Highland chiefs, Colonel Alasdair Macdonell of Glengarry (1773 - 1828). It passed to the Baird family in the late 19th century and then to Lord Brocket (Alan Ronald Nall-Cain) (1904 - 1967) in 1934.

In what appears to be a remarkable story of survival, the 28 bedroom house (with 28 chimneys) lay deserted, fully furnished and open, for a number of years until the local community bought it as part of their buyout of the Knoydart Estate in 1999. Two years later, in order to raise funds, the house was sold again. Reportedly paying in excess of the �150,000 asking price (and beneficiary of a trust fund), the purchaser was an American sculptor and furniture designer, Rick Walsh, who had been searching for somewhere to live in Scotland, along with his wife (born in Ayrshire, but they met while at college in America), and three children. whose wife Dorothy is Scottish, born in Ayrshire, a wife and three children, the buyer is said to be the beneficiary of an obscure American trust fund. His aim being to relocate his Vermont based studio in Inverie, and attract his high-profile clients to the area.

As to the survival of the house and contents over the years it lay unoccupied, the location provides the answer. With only around 100 people in the community, strangers are easily spotted. With no road access, or a 20 mile hike, the only escape route is the ferry, which is not ideal if carrying luggage comprising the former contents of a house. The same holds true for anyone causing damage.

The house, and the whole area, could have been lost in 1982, when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) expressed an interest in purchasing the entire Knoydart peninsula (then about 55,000 acres), and establishing a training area. Protest campaigns were mounted by conservationists, mountaineers and walkers, which succeeded in dissuading the MoD from proceeding, but the estate was later acquired by a property speculator, who broke it into smaller lots and sold them off.

In 2000, corporate survival courses were held there, one of which featured helicopter helicopter rescue, and used the house's courtyard as a landing area.

Inverie is also home to the Old Forge, mainland Britain's Remotest Pub as certified by The Guinness Book of Records: Accessible only by boat!

During World War II, Inverie House was requisitioned for training, and used by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as a Special Training School, designated STS24a. Its specific function is unknown.

Also requisitioned for use by SOE, Glaschoille House, STS24b, lies 3 kilomtres to the west, at the end of a road.

Lord Brocket

Alan Ronald Nall-Cain is perhaps better known as the infamous Lord Brocket (1904 - 1967), Member of Parliament and lifetime Nazi sympathiser.

From a wealthy family that had made its millions from brewing, he attended both Eton and Oxford before becoming a barrister in London, and then a Conservative MP. Inheriting two grand houses in England, he went on to purchase the Knoydart estate in the 1930s, and became resented as an absentee landlord after dismissing and evicting the estate's workers, turning the land over to leisure pursuits such as shooting and fishing. In 1948, this resulted in a raid by the Seven Men of Knoydart, who carried out a raid on his land and claimed a small section on which to develop working crofts. A famous court case followed, which the raiders lost (he had many powerful friends), but made the point regarding the unfair distribution of land ownership without responsibility.

His homes were often used for entertaining those who supported Germany at the time, and his Nazi sympathies were well known. He was a member of the Anglo-German Fellowship, friendly with German officials, and used by the British Government as a route for passing messages. In 1939, he accepted an invitation to attend Hitler's fiftieth birthday, attending with with Major-General John Fuller and Arthur Bryant. Even after the war ended, he maintained his connections, and may have been close to being accused of treason.

A memorial to the family overlooks Inverie from a nearby hilltop.