Glengarnock Castle

Glengarnock Castle is one of the most ancient ruins in Ayrshire. Its keep is located on a remote rocky promontory overlooking the River Garnock about convert|2|mi|km north of the town of Kilbirnie in North Ayrshire, Scotland. There is no account of when this was erected or by whom but it may have been built by the Cunningham (or Cunninghame) family or by the Riddels who preceded them. The ruins were stabilized in the mid 19th century, although the structure still continues to deteriorate.

History

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the lands here were the property of the De Morville family. The Barony of Glengarnock then passed to the Riddels and the Cunninghams. Mary, Queen of Scots, visited in 1563. Sir James Cunningham built the Glengarnock Aisle in Kilbirnie Auld Kirk in 1597. The Cunninghams retained the castle until the early 17th century and by the 18th century it had been abandoned. [ [http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/featurefirst10310.html The Gazetteer for Scotland] ]

Description

"The ruins of Glengarnock Castle stand on a precipitous ridge or knoll, overhanging the Garnock, about two miles (3 km) north of Kilbirnie. This brawling stream skirts two sides of the knoll; and as the ravine through which it flows is fully eighty feet in depth, the position, under the ancient system of warfare, must have combined security with the means of easy defence. The only access to the castle is from the northeast, in which direction the ridge, upon which it is situated, is connected with the adjoining field. At the distance of thirty yards from its entrance, a depression in the ground indicates what has been the course of a dry moat, by which, and a drawbridge, the approach is said to have been protected.

The ground-plan of this ancient stronghold could, until lately, be easily traced; and as a portion of the exterior walls still remains nearly the original height, its appearance when entire may, with little difficulty, be yet shadowed out. From notes and measurements taken a few years ago, it may be described in general terms, as having consisted of a quadrilateral tower, with a court of less elevated buildings extending from its east side. The entrance has been from the eastern extremity of the latter. This facade is convert|46|ft|m long, and has been about convert|24|ft|m in height. A court or passage, convert|59|ft|m in length, lay between the entrance and the tower, on each side of which has been a range of two-storied apartments. The tower is convert|45|ft|m long, convert|33|ft|m wide, and its height has been above convert|40|ft|m.

Its upper and now only accessible story has consisted of a hall occupying the whole extent within the walls, and the imbowed ceiling of which has been convert|20|ft|m in height. It has been lighted both from the court and from the exterior walls. One of the windows overlooks the rugged chasm through which murmurs the Garnock, and from two narrow apertures facing the east, the eye may yet revel over a beautiful extent of the district bearing the same name as the old lords of the castle. From the hall, a narrow circular stair led to the upper part of the building, which has been surrounded by a parapet wall.

The ruins show neither the arrow-slit nor gun-port of defence, so common in similar old houses. Perhaps the situation was of itself so secure as to render unnecessary the ordinary means of repelling an attack. The uniformity of style in all castellated mansions, erected prior to the discovery of gunpowder, renders it hazardous to be precise regarding the date of their construction. Few, however, conversant with such remnants of feudal architecture, would hesitate to assign to the ruins of this stronghold, an antiquity as remote as that of any remains of masonry in the west of Scotland." [Paterson, James. History of the County of Ayr. Vol. II P. 113. Printed by J. and W. Paterson, Edinburgh, 1852]

External links

: [http://www.triggcunninghamfamily.com/glengarnock.html The Cunningham Family] : [http://stbrigids-kilbirnie.com/Pages/buildings.html St. Brigids Church, Kilbirnie] : [http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/gscrp/gleng.html Glengarnock Castle, ground plan]

References