Dunninald has a history of at least a thousand years. The name is derived from the gaelic, dun a castle and ard, a high place. A second house was built about 1590, to replace the old tower. This was some four hundred yards inland and was at the foot of the present-day beech avenue, next to the walled garden.
By 1811 the second house was some 230 years old and the new owner, Peter Arkley, commissioned James Gillespie Graham to built a new house. This was designed by the architect James Gillespie Graham in the gothic revival style, building started in 1819 and the house was completed in 1824.
Guided tours of the castle explain the history of the house, the collections of furniture, paintings and displays of fine needlework photographs and memorabilia, examples of fine plasterwork and trompe l'oeil can also be seen. Tours take approximately 40 minutes and start on the hour and half hour.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.