Geograph - photograph every grid square

Loch an Eilein is a small irregular shaped, freshwater loch in the Rothiemurchus Forest about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Aviemore, Scotland in Cairngorms National Park. Loch an Eilein comes from the Scottish Gaelic and means 'Loch of the island'. The loch is considered to be beautiful and walks around it are popular.
In the late 18th and early 19th century, the loch was used mainly for two things. On the banks of the loch there is a limestone kiln where the limestone was collected from a rockface looking over the loch. Also loggers used the connecting river to float logs down to the wood-treating factories downstream. Rob Roy and other cattle rustlers used the loch, and one side of the loch is called 'Robbers Way'.
On an island in the middle of the Loch are the ruins of a small 14th century castle. It was originally constructed as a place of refuge from thieves and threatening activities.The castle is said to have once been the property of Alexander Stewart the Wolf of Badenoch.

The castle was the site of conflict. The Jacobites, retreating from Cromdale in 1690, besieged the castle. Dame Grizel Mor Grant, widow of the fifth laird Grant, held the castle against the Jacobites.The castle fell out of use in the late 18th century.

The castle may have originally been connected to the shore by a causeway. The causeway became submerged when the water level in the loch was raised by estate work and the building of a dam in the 18th century.

See other images of Loch an Eilein