Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Event ID 560693
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/560693
Scalan is renowned for the important role it played in preserving the Roman Catholic faith in Scotland during the eighteenth century. Between 1717 and 1799, with the help and support of the Dukes of Gordon, it functioned as a seminary, schooling over 100 youths who subsequently left Scotland to train as priests in Scots Colleges abroad. It also served as an administrative centre for the Roman Catholic church in Scotland.
The seminary was first established in a small cottage and, on several occasions in the 1720s, pupils and staff were forced to go into hiding due to the presence of government troops in the area. In 1746, following the Battle of Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland led a detachment of troops who burned the cottage to the ground.
Scalan was subsequently rebuilt, and the site of the earlier cottage can still be identified to the west of the two-storeyed farmhouse and attached cottages which were acquired in 1767 and converted for seminary use. Some features include panelled doors, stone-flagged floors and box beds.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
