(pronounced ''Bewley''; a corruption of ''Beaulieu''), a town of traditional
Inverness-shire ,
Scotland , on the Beauly, 10 m. W. of
Inverness by the
Highland railway. Pop. (1901) 855.
Its chief interest is the beautiful remains of the Priory Church of the Blessed Virgin and John the Baptist, founded in 1230 by
John Bisset of the
Aird , for
Valliscaulian Monk s (
Historic Scotland ). At the Reformation the buildings (except the church, now a ruin) passed into the possession of
Lord Lovat . On the right bank of the river is the site of
Lovat Castle , which once belonged to the Bissets, but was presented by
James VI , to
Hugh Fraser and afterwards demolished. To the south-east is the church of
Kirkhill containing the vault of the Lovats. Three miles south of Beauly is
Beaufort Castle , the chief seat of the Lovats, a fine modern mansion in the Scottish baronial style. It occupies the site of a fortress erected in the time of
Alexander II ., which was besieged in
1303 by
Edward I . This was replaced by several castles in succession, of which one–
Castle Dounie —was taken by
Oliver Cromwell and burned by the duke of
Cumberland in
1746 , the conflagration being witnessed from a neighbouring hill by
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat , before his capture on
Loch Morar .
The current Lord Lovat sold the castle to Ann Gloag of the
Stagecoach Group to pay off debts. The land around Beauly is fertile and the town drives a brisk trade in coal, timber, lime, grain and fish.
