The Balmacara Estate

The Balmacara Estate is a 2750 ha (6795 acre) crofting estate run by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) with the principal aim of actively encouraging traditional crofting in eight townships in the Kyle of Lochalsh area. Located 3 miles (5 km) east of Kyle of Lochalsh, the estate includes the village of Plockton to the north of Balmacara, which has been designated an Outstanding Conservation Area.

The modern estate was part of a much larger property owned by the Mackenzie Earls of Seaforth until 1801, when it was sold to the Glasgow-born cotton trader Sir Hugh Innes (1764 - 1831). His great-niece sold the property to Sir Alexander Matheson (1805-86). Matheson built Duncraig Castle in 1866 as a grander home to Balmacara House. The estate was bought from Matheson's son by Sir Daniel Hamilton (1860 - 1939), who had made his money with the Mackinnon Mackenzie Company in India. It was Hamilton's widow who gave the estate to the NTS in 1946.


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