View allAll Photos Tagged disarray
Pennhurst Asylum was built in 1908 as a state school for the mentally and physically disabled. The Spring City, Chester County, Pennsylvania property covered 120 acres with many different buildings, many connected through a series of underground tunnels. The original name was "Pennhurst Home for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic" before it became known as the "Pennhurst State School". A 1968 report by NBC television entitled "Suffer The Little Children" brought forth evidence of abuse, neglect, and overcrowding at the institution. After many lawsuits, including the landmark May 1974 case "Halderman v. Pennhurst State School ", Pennhurst was finally forced to close its doors in 1986. Pennhurst fell into complete disarray and ruin with scrappers looting buildings for what they could sell and vandals spray painting just about every surface they could find.
There have been attempts to stabilize some of the buildings, primarily the roofs, to keep the buildings in a state of "arrested decay" so they don't become more ruined by the elements, and several of the more dangerous buildings have been demolished. There is a movement to build a museum that features the history of not only Pennhurst but also mental care in the United States, so that we never return to that state of affairs again. The property owners now offer a haunted house during the Halloween season, Paranormal tours, and Photography tours. Tour money goes towards the stabilization of the buildings and the formation of the museum.
Nikon ZF with Nikkor Z 14-30mm F4.5 lens @ 30mm. F13, ISO 100. Oben tripod with an Arca-Swiss C1 cube 3-way geared head.
★NEW Dura-B101 by MANCAVE
"AKINI"SpinaPierce/B-sp-Right
BlankLine Big T-shirts
EmilyC Ring Heart
Nutmeg. Disarray Bed Lightgrey
★NEW Soy. Skybox [My Roof Top Life ] main penthouse by TMD
Morpho Butterfly Animated
"Happy landing you've been there
Welcome back from disarray
Take my hand now to somewhere
Take me on, take me on, take me so far away"
~The Fixx
I adore when he sends me videos that spark ideas in my brain.
I turn to find you waiting there for me
feat.
Zibska//Nesrin Mask (full):w/ Orbits @ We <3 Roleplay
Clef de Peau//Colton:T2:Base, brows:v26:brown @ TMD
Besom//Ruby Said:Gothic
Vrsion//Rival:7.0 Male Pants:Silver
Slink//Physique:v1.3
Mandala//Steking Ears:Season 5
Pink Fuel//Fury Face Tattoo:Black/Red
Lovely Disarray//Forgotten Nobility:Full:Sphalerite
Random Matter//Face Contour:Full
Nox//Face Highlight:Full/Medium
Model: Psyche Scribe
Shot: Home sim (private)
Our church is a renovated grocery store. Upstairs is all old office space that was never renovated. A great place to take pictures because most of it is in similar disarray.
⎾ꜱᴘᴏɴꜱᴏʀ⏌
Sadgirl
⎾ᴀɴᴀᴛᴏᴍʏ⏌
・Lelutka - Avalon
・Ebody - Reborn
・Stealthic - Barbwire
・Avi-Glam - Destiny
・Swallow - Gauge
・Reborn - waifus boob
⎾ᴀᴛᴛɪʀᴇ⏌
・#Sadgirl - Cherry top @ Mainstore for the Saturday sale
・#Sadgirl - Hale Socks @ Mainstore for last Saturday sale
・#Sadgirl - Little Sprout @ Mainstore for happy weekend
・Lunafell - Brat shorts
・ChicChica - Juice
⎾ᴄᴏꜱᴇᴍᴛɪᴄꜱ⏌
・Voguel - Izzy
・itGirls & Velour - Picasso Babe "Curvy Muse"
・Void+minttea - Demure
・Nuve - Ashley
・Filthy Banger - Pretty little liar
・Alba - Branch
・Top1salon - HD Nice
・Top1salon - HD Versa
・Solros - hearties
・Lexa - Vakita coffin
⎾ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇʀʏ⏌
・#Sadgirl - Dino Plushei @ Daydream event opened July 12th
・Nutmeg - Disarray bed
・Legna - Virginia wall panel
⎾ʟɪɴᴋꜱ⏌
His motives were in question as was his sanity. But the man branded 'The Mayfair Grabber' had made scattered appearances from Marble Arch to Piccadilly the last month.
Local clientele strolling the opulent neighborhood may turn in a heart-stopping panic to find this ... whomsoever attached - both hands, no less - to their personal outerwear. Then, in the daze of nervous disarray, dissolve away into the bustle. Nothing taken, nothing left behind save the remnant of his grip.
Pennhurst Asylum was built in 1908 as a state school for the mentally and physically disabled. The Spring City, Chester County, Pennsylvania property covered 120 acres with many different buildings, many connected through a series of underground tunnels. The original name was "Pennhurst Home for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic" before it became known as the "Pennhurst State School". A 1968 report by NBC television entitled "Suffer The Little Children" brought forth evidence of abuse, neglect, and overcrowding at the institution. After many lawsuits, including the landmark May 1974 case "Halderman v. Pennhurst State School ", Pennhurst was finally forced to close its doors in 1986. Pennhurst fell into complete disarray and ruin with scrappers looting buildings for what they could sell and vandals spray painting just about every surface they could find.
There have been attempts to stabilize some of the buildings, primarily the roofs, to keep the buildings in a state of "arrested decay" so they don't become more ruined by the elements, and several of the more dangerous buildings have been demolished. There is a movement to build a museum that features the history of not only Pennhurst but also mental care in the United States, so that we never return to that state of affairs again. The property owners now offer a haunted house during the Halloween season, Paranormal tours, and Photography tours. Tour money goes towards the stabilization of the buildings and the formation of the museum.
Nikon ZF with Nikkor Z 14-30mm F4.5 lens @ 30mm. F13, ISO 100. Oben tripod with an Arca-Swiss C1 cube 3-way geared head.
Blogged at Strike by Night
Haus of Darcy (Liquid poison piercing set for The Rack - 24hrs only)
Glam Affair
Magika
Lovely Disarray
MW ilweran
Repulse
J's
TonkTastic
Utopiah
DEAR HONORABLE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA,
The pictured above realtor signage are engulfing my street and neighborhood.
PLEASE, Sir, place on the agenda an urgency and high priority of HOUSING ECONOMICS, so that the young and the retired senior citizen homeowners can stay in their prized possessions....their hard owned homes.
Thank you.
Below, is one the many sad scenes that I have witnessed this year. Please let me share it with you.
Thank you for your compassion, and congratulations on your election.
FORECLOSURE...FORECLOSURE....FORECLOSURE.....FORECLOSURE
by
James Hiram Malone
TODAY IS TUESDAY. Atlanta's sun beams brightly down on a displaced furniture pile on the front lawn of a family's residence. The mountainous array of items evicted from the now empty house have no privacy. A great big Atlanta blue sky is the roof over the household personal belongings.
YESTERDAY WAS MONDAY. Every piece of the now open-air furniture was neatly and functionally arranged in that now abandoned seven room house. The sleep-good full size bed, matching dresser, and the chest of drawers that passers-by gawk at, once held fort in a ten foot by twelve foot upstairs bedroom. Nearby, on the grass, an electric alarm clock, whose face reflects the sun rays is set at six am as it was on the family's night table.
TODAY, TUESDAY, the open door refrigerator is bringing slow death of the freezer foods. Water drains like life's blood from the box and vapor steams wave to the waiting sky. The popular king-pin refrigerator that once coolly cornered the nine by nine foot kitchen succumbs to the heat of the day.
The leaning-on-the-side stove fizzes an aroma of gas that escapes from a dangling unplugged coil outlet. Circling flies engage in fierce battle as they hover over food remnants on dishpan plates. A laundry basket longing for soapsuds testifies that this home dweller was taken by surprise.
A tossed-on-its-back lounger, crushed under the impact of pots, pans and table lamps, misses being in that thirteen by thirteen foot living room in front of that TV set. And this unplugged TV electronic device screen now reflects and focuses all-day news to the pedestrians gawking at the front lawn's disarray. This is the picture of the tragedy of a family that got lost in the budget crunch economy and received foreclosure notice and was evicted to the streets.
A round dining room table strained with books, jars, cleaning supplies remembers being loaded down with plates of food in that nine by nine foot dining room. And especially on holidays. Unopened gallon cans of beige interior wall paint, a hammer, nails, screwdriver will not decorate and repair the house, scatter leisurely on the lawn. An ironing board, relaxes forlornly under the heat of the sun. Various brands of alcoholic beverage bottles and glasses lay huddle together, ready for another Saturday night party.
Flung-out-of-the-closets, mother-of-the-house dresses and father-of-the house suits lay wrinkled on top of an empty bookcase. Walking, jogging and playing family shoes lay inactive in the corner of the lawn. Ripped-from-the-windows, curtains, shades, now not giving privacy to household items, resign themselves in the shrubberies.
Pages of photo album leap out family memories onto the lawn. Baby Molly's first steps and grandma's birthday. Children's dolls, trains, checkers say “Come play with me!” Banged-up card table and scattered playing cards miss Uncle Joe's laughing, “I bid six!”
Broken picture frames, flower pots, and spilled prescription medicines onto the lawn suggest the movers were not sympathetic in evicting the family.
Pedestrians and motorists later seeing the AUCTION sign, mutter, “Ain't it a shame,” knowing full well that FORECLOSURE can happen to them without a moment's notice.
jhm
jhmalone@att.net
*************************************
malone.imagekind.com/masterpieces
(click at top of page at jhmalone and
"Laughing Trees" site )
An elegant octagonal church rises among the pointed and beveled rocks of a gorge between the mountains:
it is the Temple of Valadier, in Genga, Marche (Italy).
The visual contrast is outstanding: the neoclassic architecture in travertine designed by Giuseppe Valadier (Rome, 1762-1839) – with the luminous symmetry of its eight sides symbolizing the Resurrection of Jesus, which occurred “on the eighth day” – stands against the rough disarray of nature, near the magnificent Frasassi Caves dug in limestone by the Sentino river.
The local people very likely sought refuge in these hidden grottos around the 10th century, when tribes from today’s Hungary raided the area.
The temple was built in 1828 by pope Leone XII, born Annibale Sermattei della Genga, and once housed a statue of the Madonna and Child made in Antonio Canova’s workshop.
Nutmeg. Disarray Bed Dark v1 ADULT
[InsurreKtion] Cute Bots - Robot #8
[IK] Cute Bots - Robot #9
[IK] Pop Art Time - Bowl Pile V2
[IK] Pop Art Time - Bowl Armchair V2 (PG)
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tikka/246/32/1951
Bazar - Toronto-Bedroom floor lamp w/o cable
Bazar - Torronto-slippers
Bazar - Stockholm-Clothing rack (male)
Bazar - Stockholm-Sneakers decor (male)
Bazar - Toronto-Drawings
bazar - Toronto-Great ideas
..::THOR::.. Model Kit Box
junk. pulley light.
A windy morning in Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve sends the elaborate headdresses of these Royal Spoonbills into disarray.
feat.
Zibska //Whisper:03 (lips, mainstore), Dwyn:18 (lips, mainstore), Delice Effect:10 (lips, mainstore), Sammi:09 (eyes, mainstore), Quip (legs, mainstore),
Zibska//Alberich Crown & Adornment set for The Good Gorean Hunt 15-21 October 1 , Mallt Deux gloves @ We <3 Roleplay:October
Clef de Peau//Leila Bra:Midnight @ Kustom9
Pumec//Flora:January
Maitreya Mesh Body:v3.5
S0ng//Hex Eye:Black
RedMint//Hair No.:41-16
Lovely Disarray:Neo Geisha Concept:Tamashi Complete
Nuuna//Dow:Black
Mandala//Steking Ears:Season 5
Plastik//Bea Ringset:Darkness
Gabriel//Fur Stole:Black
Azuchi-Vinyl//Dress Code Gacha:Panties:Black
Model//Psyche Scribe
Shape//Self-Made
Pose//Exposeur:The Keyhole
The Rhins of Galloway is a narrow strip of land, jutting out into the Irish Sea at the south western extreme of Scotland. It is a remote peninsula that the modern world has only lightly touched. Its close proximity to Northern Ireland points to a long history of Irish influence and the land is punctuated with numerous prehistoric stones, forts and the ruins of early Christian chapels. It is a place where the veil between the past and the present is very thin indeed.
About a mile or so inland from the village of Sandhead is the atmospheric church and burial ground of Kirkmadrine. The church stands on a small hill and is of late Victorian construct, plain in features, but its footprint is far, far older. Gravestones cluster around the southern wall of the church, tumbling down the short, steep incline in ragged disarray. They face east to the rising sun, waiting for the coming of the light.
In the summer, this is a beautifully peaceful place to pass a warm, sunny afternoon, sitting on the grass among the tombstones. It is a very different place in late October. The ground is sodden, this year’s leaves fallen across the grass and stuck to the wet gravestones. The musty smell of decay hangs in the air. On days like today, daylight is nothing more than varying shades of darkness. Colours are barely perceptible as anything other than hues of grey and the low clouds mingle with the land.
In the porch is evidence that the history of this place runs far deeper that the Victorian church first suggests. A display of early Christian carved stones is neatly displayed behind a glass screen. Among fragments of tenth century carvings stand two tall, narrow slabs, carved with the Chi-Rho monogram of Constantine above deeply cut Latin inscriptions. They are among some of the oldest Christian stones in Scotland, marking the ancient graves of the priests Viventius, Mavorius and Florentius since the fifth century, until they were moved to serve as gateposts a couple of hundred years ago. Also displayed is a smaller stone of the same period, again with the Chi-Rho symbol above Latin script. INITIUM ET FINIS, the beginning and the end.
The stones are taken as evidence that a very early medieval monastery stood here, perhaps even predating Whithorn and maybe acting as a bastion of Celtic monasticism once Whithorn had been absorbed into the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria.
There are prehistoric monoliths in the fields nearby. Possibly, the carved slabs are reused standing stones, first raised by a religion far older than Christianity. Sacred rites have been practised on this knoll for many thousands of years, from the earliest times when human beings first tried to make sense of the world around them, calling upon their ancestors to commune with the gods of nature and favourably influence the hunt and the harvest.
The long history of worship on this patch of earth has pushed its residue deep into the landscape. Whatever ancient genius loci brought those early people to this special place is still here. Beyond modern comprehension, it has been here before people came and gave it a name and will still be here in millennia to come.
xOx to everyone, party hard!!!
rho thanks: haus of darcy | glam affair | lovely disarray | mandala | aliza karu | vrsion | kalopsia | fdd | toax | the mesh project
The National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh is Cambodia's largest museum of cultural history and is the country's leading historical and archaeological museum.
The museum houses one of the world's largest collections of Khmer art, including sculptural, ceramics, bronzes, and ethnographic objects. Its collection includes over 14,000 items, from prehistoric times to periods before, during and after the Khmer Empire, which at its height stretched from Thailand, across present-day Cambodia, to southern Vietnam.
The National Museum of Cambodia is located on Street 13 in central Phnom Penh, to the north of the Royal Palace and on the west side of Veal Preah Man square. The visitors' entrance to the compound is at the corner of Streets 13 and 178. The Royal University of Fine Arts is located on the west side of the museum. The museum is under the authority of the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. The museum buildings, inspired by Khmer temple architecture, were constructed between 1917 and 1924, the museum was officially inaugurated in 1920, and it was renovated in 1968.
George Groslier (1887–1945), historian, curator and author was the motivating force behind much of the revival of interest in traditional Cambodian arts and crafts, and it was he who designed this building that is today ‘traditional Khmer’ architecture. It is perhaps better described as a building enlarged from Cambodian temple prototypes seen on ancient bas-reliefs and reinterpreted through colonial eyes to meet the museum-size requirements.
The foundation stone for the new museum was laid on 15 August 1917. Some two-and-a-half years later, the completed museum was inaugurated during Khmer New Year on 13 April 1920 in the presence of H.M King Sisowath, François-Marius Baudoin, Résident-supérieur, and M. Groslier, director of Cambodian Arts, and Conservator of the museum.
The original design of the building was slightly altered in 1924 with extensions that added wings at either end of the eastern façade that made the building even more imposing.
Control of the National Museum and Arts Administration was ceded by the French to the Cambodians on 9 August 1951 and following Independence in 1953, the then Musée National de Phnom Penh was the subject of bilateral accords. In 1966 Chea Thay Seng was the first Cambodian Director of the Museum and Dean of the newly created Department of Archaeology at the Royal University of Fine Arts. This university that form its foundation as the Ecole des Arts Cambodgiens in 1920 was intimately linked with students, artisans and teachers who worked to preserve Cambodian cultural traditions, can still be found to the rear of the museum.
During Khmer Rouge regime of 1975-79—devastated all aspects of Cambodian life including the cultural realm. The Museum, along with the rest of Phnom Penh, was evacuated and abandoned. The Museum, closed between 1975 and 1979, and was found in disrepair, its roof rotten and home to a vast colony of bats, the garden overgrown, and the collection in disarray, many objects damaged or stolen. The Museum was quickly tidied up and reopened to the public on April 13, 1979. However, many of the Museum's employees had lost their lives during the Khmer Rouge regime.
"It is our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."
- Taylor Benson
Things feel like they are in disarray, which disturbs me. I'm a control freak (usually) and like things to have a certain order. When things are things are out of order, it's reflected in my day to day tasks. I'm going to try my best to get ahold of this before it takes my sanity too.
- @njee
Thanks, all! Explored! 10/23/08
I'm not sure what was wrong with this "common" Red-Billed Gull, but I've never seen one with its feathers in such disarray.
She might not have been well (She was silently opening and shutting her mouth), she may have been hot, (This particular day was probably our hottest this Summer), she may have had a damaged wing (though she appeared to take flight quite happily), she could have had a brush with a domestic animal (More than once, one of our cats has turned up at the door with a mouthful of feathers from the bird that got away!), OR maybe she was just having a Bad Hair Day...!
Thanks for visiting my Site Folks, and thanks especially for taking the time and trouble to leave a Comment; it's always nice to hear from you...!
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After the conclusion of the 1894 World's Fair, Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant and gardener, approached John McLaren with the idea to convert the temporary exhibit into a permanent park. Hagiwara personally oversaw the building of the Japanese Tea Garden and was official caretaker of the garden from 1895 to 1925.
The Hagiwara family lived in and maintained the Japanese Tea Garden until 1942, when Executive Order 9066 forced them to relocate to an internment camp with thousands of other Japanese-American families. The garden was renamed the "Oriental Tea Garden" and fell into disarray.
The name "Japanese Tea Garden" was officially reinstated in 1952.
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The Japanese Tea Garden is a popular feature of Golden Gate Park, originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894.
The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, this complex of many paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants.
Warszawa, Poland
Autumn
New collection of NFT on Foundation
Living in the city is often complicated by the confusion of disarray, which I am constantly fascinated by. People, structures, motion, and noise contribute to how the city reveals itself to me.
In this collection, I used the walls of glass that make up the cityscape and give another point of view that can go unnoticed as they blend into a chaotic display.
Each 1/1 is a single image taken in Warsaw over several years. None are double exposure.
Instagram. Website. Behance. linktr.ee/ewitsoe
wearing KOY - Tart hair from MyAttic,
::JOLI:: Lucie Skin-Bare-Rosy,
Lovely Disarray - Liner Set #1: Coon,
IKON Eternal Eyes - Brown
Warszawa, Poland
Autumn
New collection of NFT on Foundation
Living in the city is often complicated by the confusion of disarray, which I am constantly fascinated by. People, structures, motion, and noise contribute to how the city reveals itself to me.
In this collection, I used the walls of glass that make up the cityscape and give another point of view that can go unnoticed as they blend into a chaotic display.
Each 1/1 is a single image taken in Warsaw over several years. None are double exposure.
Instagram. Website. Behance. linktr.ee/ewitsoe
A revisit to this abandoned house somewhere in Germany. Better light and less waiting around for sunrise helped the morning, mostly shot this time with the 50mm and covered a few other bits.
Previous set here:
www.flickr.com/photos/timster1973/sets/72157636473568413/
The Chocolate Milk Germany UE Tour. All win no fail and some epic locations with host, sunny weather, many miles travelled and much chocolate milk consumed.
My blog:
timster1973.wordpress.com
Also on Facebook
www.Facebook.com/TimKniftonPhotography
online store: www.artfinder.com/tim-knifton
As I stumbled into the kitchen, the aftermath of Pokerpalooza stared back at me with wild eyes, a grotesque display of debauchery. The sink overflowed with a mountain of greasy plates, resembling a decadent feast devoured by insatiable beasts. Piles of crumpled napkins, smeared with remnants of buffalo wings and cocktail sauce, littered the countertops like casualties of a reckless culinary warfare. The air reeked of stale beer and the lingering scent of cigar smoke, an olfactory assault on my senses. In this unholy mess of dishes, I could almost hear the echo of the raucous laughter and clinking poker chips, a haunting reminder of the frenzied revelry that had unfolded just hours before. It was a chaotic symphony of excess, a testament to the madness that ensues when the chips are down and the stakes are high.
I left my workshop in disarray when I had my accident, and I feel much like playing guitar: I want to get back in there and start working on things, but I have to be patient. Hopefully by December my finger will be better and I will be ready to pick up and move on.
Theme: Re-Creation
Year Twelve Of My 365 Project
Set far back from the road & completely hidden during the summer months is a very interesting abandoned farm house. I had first visited this house around 4 years ago with a large group of 6 other explorers. It was difficult to explore with so many people but it was still a great time! I really didn't remember too much of the house aside from the one show piece which was the gorgeous spiral staircase & I really wanted to return to shoot it with my wide lens. The opportunity came & I returned. As I entered I quickly remembered the house as there were piles of stuff every where. Some things had not changed where as other others were it total disarray. The house was notably more disgusting than I had remember & I really didn't want to touch anything out of fear contracting the plague!
I was so focused on capturing the same shot that I took, along with everyone else who goes here & when I did I felt underwhelmed. Due to stacks of junk, everyone would stand at the top of the stairs & shoot down. It wasn't until I went back downstairs & looked up that it dawned on me! I marveled at the from below so why not shoot from there! It took some work as the floor was quite cluttered but I finally was able to get the shot I wanted!
Exploring is the mission, not a competition!
Be sure to subscribe & follow for more awesome adventures!
www.facebook.com/RiddimRyderPhotography/
Urquhart Castle, is a ruin, sits beside Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The castle is on the A82 road, 21 kilometres south-west of Inverness and 2 kilometres east of the village of Drumnadrochit.
The present ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. Founded in the 13th century, Urquhart played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. It was subsequently held as a royal castle, and was raided on several occasions by the MacDonald Earls of Ross. The castle was granted to the Clan Grant in 1509, though conflict with the MacDonalds continued. Despite a series of further raids the castle was strengthened, only to be largely abandoned by the middle of the 17th century. Urquhart was partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent its use by Jacobite forces, and subsequently decayed. In the 20th century it was placed in state care as a scheduled monument and opened to the public: it is now one of the most-visited castles in Scotland and received 547,518 visitors in 2019.
The castle, situated on a headland overlooking Loch Ness, is one of the largest in Scotland in area.[3] It was approached from the west and defended by a ditch and drawbridge. The buildings of the castle were laid out around two main enclosures on the shore. The northern enclosure or Nether Bailey includes most of the more intact structures, including the gatehouse, and the five-story Grant Tower at the north end of the castle. The southern enclosure or Upper Bailey, sited on higher ground, comprises the scant remains of earlier buildings.
The name Urquhart derives from the 7th-century form Airdchartdan, itself a mix of the Old Irish aird (point or promontory) and Old Welsh cardden (thicket or wood). Pieces of vitrified stone, subjected to intense heat and characteristic of early medieval fortification, had been discovered at Urquhart from the early 20th century. Speculation that Urquhart may have been the fortress of Bridei son of Maelchon, king of the northern Picts, led Professor Leslie Alcock to undertake excavations in 1983. Adomnán's Life of Columba records that St. Columba visited Bridei some time between 562 and 586, though little geographical detail is given. Adomnán also relates that during the visit, Columba converted a Pictish nobleman named Emchath, who was on his deathbed, his son Virolec, and their household, at a place called Airdchartdan. The excavations, supported by radiocarbon dating, indicated that the rocky knoll at the south-west corner of the castle had been the site of an extensive fort between the 5th and 11th centuries. The findings led Professor Alcock to conclude that Urquhart is most likely to have been the site of Emchath's residence, rather than that of Bridei who is more likely to have been based at Inverness, either at the site of the castle or at Craig Phadrig to the west.
Some sources state that William the Lion had a royal castle at Urquhart in the 12th century, though Professor Alcock finds no evidence for this. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Meic Uilleim (MacWilliams), descendants of Malcolm III, staged a series of rebellions against David I and his successors. The last of these rebellions was put down in 1229, and to maintain order Alexander II granted Urquhart to his Hostarius (usher or door-ward), Thomas de Lundin. On de Lundin's death a few years later it passed to his son Alan Durward. It is considered likely that the original castle was built soon after this time, centred on the motte at the south-west of the site. In 1275, after Alan's death, the king granted Urquhart to John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch.
The first documentary record of Urquhart Castle occurs in 1296, when it was captured by Edward I of England. Edward's invasion marked the beginning of the Wars of Scottish Independence, which would go on intermittently until 1357. Edward appointed Sir William fitz Warin as constable to hold the castle for the English. In 1297 he was ambushed by Sir Andrew de Moray while returning from Inverness, and Moray subsequently laid siege to the castle, launching an unsuccessful night attack. The English must have been dislodged soon after, since in 1298 Urquhart was again controlled by the Scots. In 1303 Sir Alexander de Forbes failed to hold off another English assault. This time Edward installed as governor Alexander Comyn, brother of John, as the family had sided with the English against Robert Bruce. Following his murder of the Red Comyn in 1306, Bruce completed his defeat of the Comyns when he marched through the Great Glen in 1307, taking the castles of Inverlochy, Urquhart and Inverness. After this time Urquhart became a royal castle, held for the crown by a series of constables.
Sir Robert Lauder of Quarrelwood was constable of Urquhart Castle in 1329. After fighting at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, where the Scots were defeated, Lauder returned to hold Urquhart against another threatened English invasion. It is recorded as being one of only five castles in Scotland held by the Scots at this time (the others were Dumbarton, Lochleven, Kildrummy and Loch Doon). In 1342, David II spent the summer hunting at Urquhart, the only king to have stayed here.
Over the next two hundred years, the Great Glen was raided frequently by the MacDonald Lords of the Isles, powerful rulers of a semi-independent kingdom in western Scotland, with a claim to the earldom of Ross. In 1395, Domhnall of Islay seized Urquhart Castle from the crown, and managed to retain it for more than 15 years. In 1411, he marched through the glen to take on the king's supporters at the Battle of Harlaw. Although an indecisive battle, Domhnall subsequently lost the initiative and the crown was soon back in control of Urquhart. In 1437 Domhnall's son Alexander, now Earl of Ross, raided around Glen Urquhart but could not take the castle. Royal funds were granted to shore up the castle's defences. Alexander's son John succeeded his father in 1449, aged 16. In 1452 he too led a raid up the Great Glen, seizing Urquhart, and subsequently obtained a grant of the lands and castle of Urquhart for life. However, in 1462 John made an agreement with Edward IV of England against the Scottish King James III. When this became known to James in 1476, John was stripped of his titles, and Urquhart was turned over to an ally, the Earl of Huntly.
Huntly brought in Sir Duncan Grant of Freuchie to restore order to the area around Urquhart Castle. His son John Grant of Freuchie (d.1538) was given a five-year lease of the Glen Urquhart estate in 1502. In 1509, Urquhart Castle, along with the estates of Glen Urquhart and Glenmoriston, was granted by James IV to John Grant in perpetuity, on condition that he repair and rebuild the castle. The Grants maintained their ownership of the castle until 1512, although the raids from the west continued. In 1513, following the disaster of Flodden, Sir Donald MacDonald of Lochalsh attempted to gain from the disarray in Scotland by claiming the Lordship of the Isles and occupying Urquhart Castle. Grant regained the castle before 1517, but not before the MacDonalds had driven off 300 cattle and 1,000 sheep, as well as looting the castle of provisions.[24] Grant unsuccessfully attempted to claim damages from MacDonald. James Grant of Freuchie (d.1553) succeeded his father, and in 1544 became involved with Huntly and Clan Fraser in a feud with the Macdonalds of Clanranald, which culminated in the Battle of the Shirts. In retaliation, the MacDonalds and their allies the Camerons attacked and captured Urquhart in 1545. Known as the "Great Raid", this time the MacDonalds succeeded in taking 2,000 cattle, as well as hundreds of other animals, and stripped the castle of its furniture, cannon, and even the gates. Grant regained the castle, and was also awarded Cameron lands as recompense.
The Great Raid proved to be the last raid. In 1527, the historian Hector Boece wrote of the "rewinous wallis" of Urquhart, but by the close of the 16th century Urquhart had been rebuilt by the Grants, now a powerful force in the Highlands. Repairs and remodelling continued as late as 1623, although the castle was no longer a favoured residence. In 1644 a mob of Covenanters (Presbyterian agitators) broke into the castle when Lady Mary Grant was staying, robbing her and turning her out for her adherence to Episcopalianism. An inventory taken in 1647 shows the castle virtually empty.[28] When Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1650, he disregarded Urquhart in favour of building forts at either end of the Great Glen.
When James VII was deposed in the Revolution of 1688, Ludovic Grant of Freuchie sided with William of Orange and garrisoned the castle with 200 of his own soldiers. Though lacking weapons they were well-provisioned and, when a force of 500 Jacobites (supporters of the exiled James) laid siege, the garrison were able to hold out until after the defeat of the main Jacobite force at Cromdale in May 1690. When the soldiers finally left they blew up the gatehouse to prevent reoccupation of the castle by the Jacobites. Large blocks of collapsed masonry are still visible beside the remains of the gatehouse. Parliament ordered £2,000 compensation to be paid to Grant, but no repairs were undertaken. Subsequent plundering of the stonework and other materials for re-use by locals further reduced the ruins, and the Grant Tower partially collapsed following a storm in 1715.
By the 1770s the castle was roofless, and was regarded as a romantic ruin by 19th-century painters and visitors to the Highlands. In 1884 the castle came under the control of Caroline, Dowager Countess of Seafield, widow of the 7th Earl of Seafield, on the death of her son the 8th Earl. On Lady Seafield's death in 1911 her will instructed that Urquhart Castle be entrusted into state care, and in October 1913 responsibility for the castle's upkeep was transferred to the Commissioners of His Majesty's Works and Public Buildings. Historic Environment Scotland (formerly Historic Scotland), the successor to the Office of Works, continues to maintain the castle, which is scheduled monument in recognition of its national significance.
In 1994 Historic Scotland proposed construction of a new visitor centre and car park to alleviate the problems of parking on the main A82 road. Strong local opposition led to a public inquiry, which approved the proposals in 1998. The new building is sunk into the embankment below the road, with provision for parking on the roof of the structure. The visitor centre includes a display on the history of the site, including a series of replicas from the medieval period; a cinema; a restaurant; and shop. The castle is open all year, and can also host wedding ceremonies. In 2018 518,195 people visited Urquhart Castle, making it Historic Scotland's third most visited site after the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling.