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Our History

The Torridon Timeline

Ben Damph House took 20 years to build, which began in the 1860's and was finally completed in 1887.

William King-Noel, the first Earl of Lovelace, built this hunting lodge in 1887. Lovelace was an English landowner, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey and a distinguished scientist. He gains a footnote in history for marrying Lord Byron's only legitimate daughter, Ada, a pioneering 'poetical scientist' who assisted Charles Babbage in understanding and writing the first computer program. She also developed a vision on the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching while others, including Babbage himself, focused only on those capabilities. The Torridon is a good example of the kind of Scottish holiday home that the English nobility enjoyed after Queen Victoria made the Highlands of Scotland "respectable" again. 

The original entrance was through the Dining Room until the addition of the clock tower. In order to build the house all materials had to be shipped in by the boat and even the soil in the kitchen garden was brought over from Ireland. The house was built during the 50th year of Queen Victoria's Reign and you will notice that the Hall and Eilean Chasgaig Room (the Dining Room) are dedicated to her. You will see that the Drawing Room has an unusual Zodiac ceiling. again another tribute to Queen Victoria who was fascinated by astrology. 

The red sandstone of Torridon is created and the mountains rise out of the water to over 3000 ft.

1887's