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Castle Stalker
Photograph: Edwin Smith (1954)
Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Photographs Collection

The great architectural historian Pevsner said that the ‘Scottish delight in sheer height.’ Nowhere is this more obvious than Castle Stalker, its tall, severe bulk standing alert on its low island in the midst of Loch Linnhe.

The site is an ideal refuge. No causeway joins this island to the mainland: boat is the only means of access across the treacherous loch. From the fourteenth century a small fortification was set up here, guarding the approaches to the Western Isles. Over the centuries this regularly changed hands, its different owners improving the accommodation, and its defensive capabilities. The present castle dates from the 1540s, built by the Stewarts of Appin, although the external staircase dates from as late as 1909.

This view, by the great topographical photographer Edwin Smith, concentrates on the juxtaposition between man and nature. Stalker’s sharp, blunt geometrical forms are contrasted with the rocky shore, clothed in seaweed. Already tall, the reflection in the loch’s muddy waters increases its presence further.