Press Release by Save Armadale – the Clan Donald campaign
15/1/2026
Save Armadale- the Clan Donald Campaign deeply regret that the sale of our clan lands
in Sleat by the Clan Donald Lands Trust has concluded. We remain of the opinion that
this is a breach of the Deed of Trust and a betrayal of the charity’s beneficiaries. We also
dispute the reasons given by the Trustees as to the circumstances which led them to
make the decision to sell, and are still of the opinion that OSCR’s investigation into the
governance of the charity was deeply flawed.
We believe that it was ethically wrong for lands which were supposed to have been held
in trust for public benefit in perpetuity, and for which funds were raised in good faith,
were permitted to be sold to a private buyer. We will be keeping a close watch on the
Trustees and what they do with the £9 million of OUR (i.e. the beneficiaries’) money, and
the heritage assets.
We take some comfort from written assurances given, as a result of our relentless
campaign, by the Scottish Government’s First Minister, the Culture Secretary and
Museums Galleries Scotland that the collections are not for sale and that an interim
agreement is in place to ensure that the collections are not homeless in the short term.
We have also had written confirmation from Highland Council that they will be
monitoring the situation in regard to the precious trees, and Historic Environment
Scotland have a copy of our Heritage Report and concerns on file, associated with the
scheduled listed buildings.
It is beyond disgraceful that we have reached the day of the sale being formally
announced and that the Trustees of the Clan Donald Lands Trust have so far not
communicated with a single beneficiary of the charity. They have had zero
communication with CDLT Life Members, Clan Donald societies, families who
purchased memorial trees or other memorials, nor with people who donated or loaned
items to the museum. This is unacceptable and we will continue to pursue the Trustees
relentlessly to demand answers to our questions as to what happens next and to ensure
that all the promises made as a result of our Campaign are delivered.
Given the amount of work undertaken by this Campaign, especially with a view to
safeguarding the heritage assets, we would hope to be able to arrange a meeting with
the new owner of Armadale very soon in order to ask for some further information about
both the preservation of heritage assets, and public access to the lands which were,
and still should be, ours. We do acknowledge, though, that the responsibility for the
museum and archive collections remains firmly with the Clan Donald Lands Trust, who
have so far refused to engage with us.
Our Group continues to campaign on behalf of Clan Donald both in Scotland and
worldwide to demand the resignation of all four trustees of the CDLT (which intends to
rename itself the Clan Donald Heritage Trust) and their CEO, and have no faith in their
ability, qualifications or motivation to safeguard vital heritage assets of national
importance.
We will be announcing a new phase in our Campaign soon – watch this space.