History of Aros Park
Tobermory Isle of Mull

The Early Years
Throughout the 18th century the Aros Estate was farmed by a succession of tacksman (tenants) until the beginning of the 19th century, when the Duke of Argyll who owned most of Mull, found it necessary to sell many of his lands including Aros.
 The lands around Tobermory were purchased in 1788 by the British Fisheries Society with a view to developing the bay as a major fishing port.  This plan never really came to full fruition due to the island situation and the lack of a fishing tradition in the locality.
 The Estate was sold in 1821 to Hugh Maclean of Coll – hereditary owner of lands on the Isle of Coll, Rum, Muck and Quinish on Mull. Hugh Maclean was born in 1782, and became a lieutenant colonel.  He also purchased Ben More estate on Mull.  He built Aros House, then known as Drumfin House.  The house was designed by William Burn in 1825, for Hugh Maclean to use as a winter residence.  As the
photographs show this was an extensive building in simple Tudor style, built of dressed granite.
Although the rear of the House was completed, he never finished the front as he had intended.  Access to the House was originally by way of the 'Drumfin' drive, so called because it started from Drumfin Cottage.
The estate extended in total over 16,426 acres and covered the area between

Pictures: by
kind permission of Mull Museum
Tobermory and the Aros River, on the north-eastern side of the Isle of Mull. Hugh Maclean married first Janet Denniston, by whom he had 4 daughters. He married, secondly in 1825 Jane Robertson by whom he had 6 children, 4 sons and 2 daughters.  He was known to have expensive tastes, which probably contributed to his downfall.  He ran into financial difficulties and had to sell the Aros Estate.  Hugh Maclean lived in London during the latter part of his life, and died at Woodville in the house of his daughter Margaret in 1861. He was a kind-hearted man well liked by his tenants.  His designs and the layout of the Aros Estate were to remain unchanged for the next 50 years.