MHG58254 - Former Balnagown Arms inn/Hotel - Ardgay
Summary
The site of the former Balnagown Arms Inn/Hotel in Ardgay.
Type and Period (2)
- INN (Built, 19th Century to Unknown - 1821 AD?)
- HOTEL (Built, 19th Century to Unknown - 1821 AD?)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
The site of the former Balnagown Arms Inn/Hotel in Ardgay. The original building burnt down in the 1940s. It was subsequenblty replaced with a new building just to the southwest that became known as 'The Lady Ross Hotel'.
The building is shown on OS maps from the 1st Edition onwards.
In 2014 ARCH provided a number of courses, field trips and other activities exploring and researching the remains of the 19th century engineer, road and church builder Thomas Telford. A project was undertaken in Kyle of Sutherland, during which many sites were visited and photographed by participants. There has been an inn at this location for a number of years. On the first edition OS map, it is called the Balnagown Arms Hotel and appears to consist of a number of buildings. On the second edition map it is simply labelled Hotel. The inn may well have been established as a result of Telford building a road on the south side of the Firth (finished by 1817). No inn appears in Ardgay on the Forbes Map of 1820. However, the 9th Report of the Parliamentary Commissioners for Roads and Bridges reported in 1821 that 'a new inn (founded on a removed Corner Stone of the Former House) affords good accommodation.' An 1825 document from Sutherland Road trustees mentioned that exta stables were needed at the inn at Ardgay, presumably due to the increased traffic on the new road system (information from Malcolm Bangor-Jones). The New Statistical Account in 1840 mentions the Balnagowan Arms Inn. Mail was delivered at 9am from Tain, returning at 5pm. The Hotel, most recently called the Lady Ross, is currently (2014) closed and in poor repair. <1>
GIS spatial data derived in 2018 from data drawn and amended from the OS 2nd Edition map. <2>
Sources/Archives (2)
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NH 5995 9046 (19m by 24m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NH59SE |
| Geographical Area | SUTHERLAND |
| Civil Parish | KINCARDINE |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (1)
External Links (1)
- http://www.archhighland.org.uk/telford-in-kyle-of-sutherland.asp (Visit the ARCH Telford in the Kyle of Sutherland Project page)
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