User:RafikiSykes/Skibo Castle

Skibo Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Sgìobail) is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although the castle dates back to the 12th century, the present structure is largely of the 19th century, and early 20th century, when it was the home of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It is presently operated as the Carnegie Club, a members-only hotel and country club.

Etymology
According to William J. Watson, Skibo is the anglicisation of Scottish Gaelic Sgìobal, which in turn comes from an Old Norse name meaning either firewood-steading or Skithi's steading.

History
Construction of Skibo Castle was started by Gilbert de Moravia, the Bishop of Caithness, around 1186 at "Schytherbolle" in the southern area of his bishopric. Skibo Castle remained the residence of subsequent bishops until 1545, when the estate was, as a tactical measure by the church, given to John Gray in order to reinforce its alliance with a powerful family as the threat of a Protestant uprising spread towards the north.

In 1745, Robert Gray surrendered the estate. It was later bought by a relative who built a modern house before 1760. Its ownership changed frequently until 1872, when it was bought by Evan Charles Sutherland-Walker, who extended the house and improved the grounds.

Carnegie ownership
The condition of the building had declined by 1897, when wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie took a one year lease, with an option to buy. In 1898 he exercised that option for £85,000. However its condition had declined so much by this time that a further £2 million was spent on improvements, including an increase in area from 16000 sqft to over 60000 sqft, plus the creation of Loch Ospisdale and an 18-hole golf course.

Skibo stayed with the Carnegie family until 1982.

Club Foundation
It was later purchased by businessman Peter de Savary and his wife Lana and used as the foundation of a private members club, the Carnegie Club. Establishment of the club required restoration of the castle to recreate the luxury of an Edwardian sporting estate. Similar renovation was undertaken on the many lodges located amongst the castle grounds to provide additional accommodation for club members. De Savary sold the club to Ellis Short in 2003, for £23million. In 2007, his wife Mrs Eve Short allegedly threatened to shoot a retired couple’s dogs because they were walking across the estate. Because of Scotland's right-to-roam legislation the couple were within their rights to do so, and the estate later offered an apology for the incident.

The Carnegie Club
The Carnegie Club is a members-only hotel and club, with about 400 members. The Carnegie links golf course has fewer than 1000 rounds played on it per annum. The funds raised from membership fees are reinvested, including upgrading some holes of the golf course. The club has received planning permission for restoration of the swimming pool.

The Carnegie Club hosted Madonna's wedding reception to Guy Ritchie on 22 December 2000. In 1995, it had hosted the marriage of golfer Sam Torrance and the actress Suzanne Danielle. On 28 December 1997 it hosted the marriage of actor Robert Carlyle and his wife Anastasia Shirley.

On 3 December 2006, the BBC Television programme Landward featured the Burnett family who for several generations had been tenants of a farm on Skibo estate. The programme highlighted their search for a new farm following their eviction by the estate. The farm is now part of an off-road driving facility for the use of paying guests of the castle. In March 2008, Skibo became a "members only" club, with only members and guests allowed to stay there.

Castle grounds
The grounds include Lake Louise, a very small artificial lake, and one of only a few bodies of water in Scotland known as lakes. The estate is listed on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, the list of nationally significant designed landscapes in Scotland.

Illegal bird of prey poisoning
In May 2011, a shoot manager on the prestigious Skibo Estate was convicted of possessing over 10kg of a highly toxic banned pesticide — enough to poison the entire Scottish population of birds of prey six times over. Dean Barr was fined £3,300 for possessing 10.5 kg of Carbofuran, illegal in the UK since 2001. The highly toxic substance was discovered locked in a store, to which Barr had the key, during an investigation and search conducted by Northern Constabulary. Police were alerted to the estate in east Sutherland on 5th May last year, following the discovery of a dead Golden Eagle by a group of hill-walkers. Unbeknown to the group, less than two miles away, another dead eagle had been found only three days previously which was also reported to the authorities. A further visit by police, assisted by RSPB Scotland staff, to the estate resulted in the recovery of a dead Red Grouse — a suspected poisoned bait — staked to the ground; nearby lay the body of a Sparrowhawk and Buzzard, while just a few hundred metres away lay the contorted body of a third Golden Eagle. Subsequent tests by Scottish Government laboratories confirmed that two of the eagles, the Sparrowhawk and the bait contained traces of lethally toxic poison Carbofuran. The third eagle had also been illegally poisoned with Aldicarb, another banned pesticide. However, no charges or convictions have been made in connection with these incidents.