Boleskine House

Ian Topham says:

Re: Boleskine House
The following story by Paul Kelbie appeared in The Observer on Sunday, 19 April 2009.

For sale on Loch Ness: Aleister Crowley’s centre of dark sorcery

A plot of land once owned by the self-proclaimed "most wicked man in the world" has been put up for sale, attracting interest from rock stars, developers and disciples of the dark arts.

Boleskine Bay, on Loch Ness at Foyers, was part of an estate renowned at the start of the 20th century as "a centre of black magic, evil and sorcery" under the ownership and influence of satanist Aleister Crowley.

The "Beast of Boleskine", who died in 1947, owned Boleskine Estate between 1899 and 1913, during which time he tried to smother the Highlands in black magic by coaxing out the forces of evil.

The estate, once the home of millionaire rock star Jimmy Page, has been linked to a number of incidents over the years, including at least two violent deaths.

As well as black magic rituals to invoke the four princes of evil, Crowley and his devil-worshipping followers used the estate to make talismans and offered animal sacrifices to Satan.

"The demons and evil forces had congregated round me so thickly that they were shutting off the light. It was a comforting situation. There could be no more doubt of the efficiency of the operation," Crowley wrote of his experiments at the estate.

Now, a 1.9-acre plot on the former estate has been put on the market for £176,000 with planning permission for a three-bedroom log house, and 140ft of the Loch Ness foreshore.

"There’s been a great deal of interest in the plot because of the Crowley connection. We’ve had various enquiries from all over the place. People do tend to be interested in things that are sinister, but we’ve also had enquiries from people who just want a base in the Highlands with some nice views over Loch Ness," said Kevin Maley, of Inverness agents Strutt and Parker.

"The house and plot are owned by different people. The plot has been in the same family for the last 40 years, but the owner has decided it’s time to go. It’s an unusual one in that it’s being sold with planning permission for a log cabin in the middle of nowhere, but it would make a perfect holiday cottage," he said.

The estate agents’ brochure claims the area is perfect for fishing, shooting and hunting, an activity also favoured by Crowley, who took his pack of bloodhounds on manhunts across the estate.

Crowley and his disciples used drugs, sex and blood sacrifices of goats and cats during debauched rituals. The black magician also took pleasure in the suffering that his sinister practices apparently brought to local villagers. He bragged about how an employee of the Boleskine estate got drunk one night – after 20 years of abstinence – and attempted to kill his wife and children.

The family of Crowley’s lodge keeper, Hugh Gillies, also suffered a series of tragedies. First his 10-year-old daughter died suddenly at her school desk and a year later his 15-month-old son died of convulsions on his mother’s knee.

Such is the reputation of the white-stoned home of sorcery that during his three years in residence, at the beginning of the 20th century, the villagers of Foyers avoided the estate at all costs.

Although Crowley died penniless in 1947, the years have not erased the memories of his association with the Scottish Highlands home. Visitors to the estate have reported seeing lights flashing on and off by themselves, windows shattering and a chair which belonged to Crowley moving on its own.

In 1960 the then owner of the house, Major Edward Grant, shot himself in the bedroom which had been used by Crowley for some of his satanic rituals.

Jimmy Page, in a 1975 interview, said: "The estate was owned by Aleister Crowley but there were two or three owners before Crowley moved into it. On the site of the house there was also once a church that burned to the ground with the congregation inside."

He said: "Strange things have happened in that house which have nothing to do with Crowley. The bad vibes were already there."