Aros Castle

Aros Castle, also known as Dounarwyse Castle, is a ruined 13th-century fortress located near Salen on the Isle of Mull, overlooking the Sound of Mull. Probably built by the MacDougall lords of Lorn as one of a series of castles intended to control both sides of the Sound, the fortress passed to the MacDonald Lords of the Isles at the start of the 14th century. The MacLeans of Duart eventually acquired it, before it came under Campbell control. The ruins consist of a roofless hall house perched on a rocky headland and defended on the landward side by a ditch and stone wall. Though described as 'ruinous and old' in the 1690s, it remains a striking monument to the strategic importance of the Sound of Mull.