A Highland lodge where Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess is rumoured to have been imprisoned has gone on the market for more than £1million.

Local people believe that Hess, the deputy leader of Nazi Germany, was jailed in Inverlair Lodge, in Inverness-shire, during the Second World War.

Like many large homes in the Highlands, the 13-bedroom lodge was requisitioned by the War Office. It was used as a training base by the Special Operations Executive as well as, it is understood, a safe haven for secret agents who were at risk.

In 1941 Hess flew solo from Augsburg to Scotland in an apparent attempt to negotiate peace with Britain. He was arrested after his aircraft crashed. The purpose of Hess's flight will probably never be fully understood, with the answer likely having died with him in Spandau Prison in Berlin in 1987.

Richard Sidgwick, who owns the lodge with his wife, Janet, said: “Many who lived here during the war will tell you that Hess was detained at Inverlair, a suggestion that is repeated frequently in local historical guides.”

Inverlair Lodge, which is a mile west of Tulloch and overlooks Glen Spean, was known as Special Workshop No 6 during the war. SOE agents were trained there in unarmed combat, silent killing, wireless communications and explosives before being parachuted behind enemy lines.

The building still bears the scars of its past: bullet holes are visible around the staircase and one cell-like room still has its observation hatch.