Kings House Hotel

Kings House Hotel

The Kings House Hotel is a remote inn and hotel at the eastern end of Glen Coe at the junction with Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands. It is sited in an isolated position, about 2 km to the east of the head of the glen towards Rannoch Moor, and faces towards the Buachaille Etive Mor, a dramatic peak which is very popular with rock climbers. The inn lies on the old military "Wade road" over Rannoch Moor which now forms the West Highland Way and crosses the River Etive at the inn before continuing into the glen and ascending the Devil's Staircase, the old military road and drove road north across the hills towards Kinlochleven.

The Kings House was built in the 17th century and is thought to be one of Scotland's oldest licensed inns. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746 the building became a barracks for the troops of King George III of the United Kingdom engaged in crushing Jacobitism, thus getting the name King's House.

In the old coaching days it was customary for tourists to drive from Ballachulish via Tyndrum to Loch Lomond. The inn was visited in 1803 by Dorothy Wordsworth who wrote "Never did I see such a miserable, such wretched place, – long rooms with ranges of beds, no other furniture except benches, or perhaps one or two crazy chairs, the floors far dirtier than an ordinary house could be if it were never washed. With length of time the fire was kindled and after another hour of waiting, supper came, a shoulder of mutton so hard that it was impossible to chew the little flesh that might have been scraped off the bones."

By 1903, standards had changed and Alexander Wilkie recorded that "Arriving at Kings House Inn I have a hearty welcome. Tea, my clothes and shoes dried. Next morning after a walk round I go in for breakfast. What shall I have? – grapefruit? What! can I have grapefruit in Kings House; of course I can; and so I have grapefruit, and porridge and cream, and fish, and everything just like a west end city hotel. I tell you I am well looked after and at a charge so moderate that I am almost ashamed of my appetite."

In 1959, the Kingshouse Hotel underwent its first 20th century modernisation, and was done in such a sensitive manner that the architect, John Thompson ARIBA of Weddell & Thompson, Glasgow, and unusually, also the builders (at the behest of the architect), Thos. Findlay and Sons Ltd of Mauchline, Ayrshire both received Civic Trust Awards for their efforts.

This old inn still welcomes visitors, with bar meals, available all day and 22 bedrooms with suitable facilities for fishermen, walkers and climbers down from the glen's peaks, as well as skiers from the "White Corries" ski resort just across the road on the mountain of Meall a' Bhuiridh when snow conditions permit.

It is quite common for people to camp in the vicinity of Kings House, as the surrounding area is simply open moorland. Although not officially encouraged, provided one stays on the opposite side of the river from the inn staff are generally very welcoming.

External links

* [http://www.kingy.com/ Kings House Hotel, Glencoe Home Page]
* another Kings House Hotel: [http://www.ukhotel.com/central-scotland/map/kings-house-hotel-lochearnhead-ah119861.htm Kings House Hotel map]
*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • DUPLICATE - Kings House Hotel — (Флагстафф,США) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: 1560 East Route 66, Ф …   Каталог отелей

  • Best Western Kings House Motel - Flagstaff (Flagstaff) — Best Western Kings House Motel Flagstaff country: United States, city: Flagstaff (Flagstaff) Best Western Kings House Motel Flagstaff Located on historic Route 66, Best Western Kings House Motel Flagstaff is just minutes distance to Northern… …   International hotels

  • House of Orléans — Country France Ancestral house House of Bourbon descended from Capetian dynasty Titles …   Wikipedia

  • House of Este — The coat of arms of the House of Este Este redirects here. For the city, see Este, Italy. For the proto historic culture of Veneto, see Este culture. For J. R. R. Tolkien s fictional character, see Estë. This article is about dynasty. For a… …   Wikipedia

  • Kings Arms, Woolwich — The Kings Arms is a public house in Woolwich, London that was bombed in 1974 and is now a landmark on the route of the London Marathon.Standing at 1 Frances Street by Woolwich Dockyard, it was built in the nineteenth century. In the 1881 census… …   Wikipedia

  • Kings Oak — was the fictional village in the television serial Crossroads which ran on ITV between 1964 and 1988. It is sometimes written as King s Oak.Between 1964 and 1970 most of the scenes of the village were actually all recorded inside the Alpha… …   Wikipedia

  • Kings of Speed — Single by Hawkwind from the album Warrior on the Edge of Time …   Wikipedia

  • House of Rochechouart — {| align=right border=1 align=center Limoges The House of Limoges Rochechouart is the most ancient noble family in France after the royal family. [fr icon Encyclopédie Universalis] This powerful dynasty of the Carolingian era dates back to… …   Wikipedia

  • House of Rohan — For other uses of the word Rohan, see Rohan (disambiguation). Château des Rohan in Mutzig, Alsace (completed in 1673) …   Wikipedia

  • Hotel Zack & Cody — Seriendaten Deutscher Titel Hotel Zack Cody Originaltitel The Suite Life of Zack Cody …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”