Ardross, Highland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ardross
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 Ardross Castle |
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 Ardross
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| Population | 150 (est.) |
| OS grid reference | NH6174 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Alness |
| Postcode district | IV17 |
| Dialling code | 01349 |
| Police | Northern |
| Fire | Highlands and Islands |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament |
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| Scottish Parliament |
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Ardross is a beautiful rural area in the Highland region of Scotland. Its name comes from the Scottish Gaelic words Àird Rois, meaning "high-point of Ross". It's about 30 miles (48 km) north of the city of Inverness.
Ardross is located near the B9176 road. It's about 10 miles (16 km) inland from the town of Alness on the east coast. As you go west and north, the land becomes more mountainous.
This area is home to a small community. Most people live on the lower, more fertile eastern slopes. They also live in the valleys of Strathrusdale and Strathy (Ardross). The total area is about 30 square miles (78 km²). Much of this land is used for farming or covered by pine forests. The northern and western parts are open mountains.
The biggest group of homes is in a small village called Dublin. It has about 30 houses and a church. This village was named by Irish workers who came to build Ardross Castle. Since 2022, Ardross Castle has been famous as the filming location for the TV show The Traitors.
Contents
History of Ardross
Early Settlers: The Picts
The first people to live in Ardross were the Picts. They lived here between the 6th and 10th centuries. You can still see the remains of their old homes, called roundhouses, in different spots.
The most amazing things left by the Picts are two carved stone slabs. These stones show a wolf and a deer. They are some of the best Pictish animal carvings ever found. Today, you can see them at Inverness Museum. These carvings were found in a stone wall in Ardross in 1891. After the 10th century, people from Norse countries started to have more influence on the area.
Ardross Estate and Its Owners
The Ardross Estate was very large, about 60,000 acres (243 km²). In the late 1700s, the Duke of Sutherland bought it. Then, in 1845, he sold it to Sir Alexander Matheson, 1st Baronet for £90,000.
Sir Alexander Matheson worked hard to improve the estate. He put an engineer named William MacKenzie in charge. By 1875, the number of farmers living on the land had grown five times to over 500. About 1,200 acres (4.9 km²) of farmland were made better.
Sir Alexander hired an architect named Alexander Ross. He redesigned Ardross Castle in the Scots Baronial style. After Sir Alexander died, his son, Sir Kenneth Matheson, sold the estate in 1898. The new owner was Charles William Dyson Perrins. He was a Captain in the Highland Light Infantry and had interests in the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company and Lea & Perrins (Worcester) sauce.
The large estate was later divided and sold off in 1937. Mr. and Mrs. Austin Mardon bought Ardross Castle and 80 acres (32 hectares) of land around it. They lived there until 1983. Then, the castle and its grounds were sold to the McTaggart family. They started a big project to restore the castle. Today, Ardross Castle is used for weddings and conferences.
Ardross Castle on TV
In 2022, Ardross Castle became a famous filming spot. It was used for the BBC One reality TV show The Traitors. It was also used for the American version of the show for the streaming service, Peacock.
Famous People from Ardross
One famous person from Ardross was Sir John McKenzie. He moved to New Zealand in 1860. There, he became an important politician. He is remembered for creating policies that helped small farmers. These policies made it harder for very large landowners to control everything.
Sir John McKenzie's ideas came from his own experiences in Ardross. He saw how much hardship the tenant farmers faced. Some of his own family members had to leave Scotland and move to Canada and the United States because of this. Many years later, McKenzie shared a story. He once walked home with his father and saw many farmers who had lost their homes. They were forced to camp in the local cemetery at Ardross Church because they had nowhere else to go.
Even earlier, in 1792, farmers in Strathrusdale (part of western Ardross) led a famous protest. They were against landowners like the Duke of Sutherland. These landowners were forcing people off their land in what was known as the Highland Clearances.
Local Life in Ardross
The community in Ardross has its own primary school. About 35 students attend this school. There is also a new village hall. This hall is a great place for local events and social gatherings.
For other services, people usually go to the nearby town of Alness. Today, most people in Ardross work in the North Sea oil industry. Others work in forestry, farming, or provide local services.
You can also find the Ardross distillery in the area. This distillery makes both whisky and gin.
