Fire is an ever-present risk to historic buildings across the world. Take, for instance, Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which lost its wooden spire and roof when fire broke out in 2019. Inveraray Castle is no stranger to this nightmare scenario, having suffered two major fires during its history. The first took place in 1877 when…

The majority of items we hold in the archive have been read many, many times before – usually by pairs of eyes long since departed from this world. However, during recent cataloguing work we came across a hugely exciting find: an unopened bundle of documents from 1709! The folded contents of this neat little packet…

People often ask what being an archivist actually means. In truth, the role is so varied that it’s almost impossible to define an average ‘day in the life’ for any archivist, although like most professions these days, at least some of it will be spent in front of a screen answering emails! Whatever their archive…

Amongst the many stories contained in Argyll Estates Archives is that of the early days of Oban. The original ‘village’ of Oban grew up around the natural, sheltered harbour, with the land owned by the Duke of Argyll on the south side and the Laird of Dunstaffnage on the north side. A report compiled by…