An Ayrshire Gazetteer An Ayrshire Gazetteer Geoffrey Stell and Stephanie Weinraub Greenan Castle and Ayr Bay (cropped). William Muir 1828-1910. Rozelle House Galleries/South Ayrshire Council. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 3 JOURNAL NO. 34 An Ayrshire Gazetteer An Ayrshire Gazetteer ference would have followed in that same time- honoured CSG tradition. Unfortunately, it was not Geoffrey Stell and Stephanie Weinraub to be, but through the medium of this Journal and Introduction with the positive encouragement and support of the The following 28 sites would have been the subject editor, Neil Guy, it has at least been possible to place of visits, talks or comparative reference at the on record some of the material that would have CSG’s 34th Annual Conference which was planned been presented to the conference and a few of the to take place at Irvine, Ayrshire, on 28-31 May, themes that it would have generated. This gazetteer 2020 but was cancelled in March because of the thus forms a prelude to and an alphabetical frame- Covid-19 pandemic. Not wanting the event, which work for the following new, site-specific contribu- was at that point fully organised, to slip away tions: Auchans (No. 2) by Stephanie Weinraub; Ayr completely without record, but, equally, not Citadel (No. 3) by Louise Turner; Culzean Castle and wishing to recreate a conference brochure in its Caves (No. 11) by Derek Alexander; Dundonald entirety for visits and talks which would not take Castle (No. 14) by Gordon Ewart; Seagate Castle, place, our aim here has been to strike a middle Irvine (No. 17) by Aonghus MacKechnie; and Turn- course by presenting a basic corpus of reference berry Castle (No. 28) by Piers Dixon. and pictorial material that was being assembled In addition, this issue contains a series of papers for delegates at the time of the cancellation. on a selection of Ayrshire-inspired or Ayrshire- Originally arranged to reflect the sequence of the related discursive themes, including the follow- daily excursions and talks, the sites have been ing: ‘An Irish view of Scottish mottes’ by Tom re-grouped into a single alphabetical list. McNeill; ‘Cunninghame, a peaceful, well gov- In the spirit of a site-guide, the references aim erned land of well planted houses and castles?’ to draw members’ attention to some key articles by David Caldwell; and ‘Castle restorations in and books and to a selection of unpublished Ayrshire’ by Michael Davis. Regretfully, due to detailed surveys and reports, but are not size constraints and technical issues, it has not intended to be bibliographically comprehensive. been possible to include here an informative For the most part they are founded on the two paper on Ayrshire castle geology by Nigel series of volumes by David MacGibbon and Ruckley and Emily Copland. It is hoped that at Thomas Ross, which in many respects mark the least a summary of this paper, together with starting-points in modern times of scholarly castle other Ayrshire material prepared by Tom and church studies in Scotland: The Castellated Addyman and Geoffrey Stell, will be included in and Domestic Architecture of Scotland the next issue. We are much indebted to all (Edinburgh, 5 volumes, 1887-92) and The those who have made this partial re-creation of Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland (Edinburgh, a ‘lost’ conference possible. 3 volumes, 1896-7), referred to below as Cast and The sudden onset of the pandemic meant Dom Arch and Eccles Arch respectively. that plans to carry out final site visits and By placing the spotlight on the castles of any region photographic surveys for the conference bro- CSG Annual Conferences have, over long decades, chure had to be abruptly abandoned. One been significant stimulators of interest in the subject consequence has been that this compilation at all levels and from all perspectives, from local to has had to rely unusually heavily upon - and international. Designed to build upon and comple- be restricted to a choice of - images that are ment a very well attended day conference on castles publicly and freely available online, especially held in Irvine in October, 2019, organised by the via Wikimedia Commons. We are grateful to Ayrshire Federation of Historical Societies and the all contributors to these invaluable resources Ayrshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, and have done our best to make all appropri- all the indications were that the 34th Annual Con- ate acknowledgements. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 4 JOURNAL NO. 34 Ayrshire Gazetteer - Distribution map No. On Map Name NGR No. On Map Name NGR 1 Ardrossan Castle NS 232423 15 Dunure Castle NS 252158 2 Auchans Castle NS 355346 16 Greenan Castle NS 312193 3 Ayr Citadel NS 334221 17 Irvine, Seagate Castle NS 319391 Loch Doon Castle (original NX 488947 4 Ayr, Loudoun Hall NS 337221 18 and rebuild) NX 485950 5 Baltersan Castle NS 282088 19 Loudoun Castle NS 506378 6 Blair Castle NS 304480 20 Mauchline Castle NS 498273 7 Brodick Castle, Arran NS 015379 21 Maybole Castle NS 301100 8 Cassillis Castle NS 340128 22 Newmilns Tower NS 536373 9 Craigie Castle NS 408317 23 Portencross Castle NS 175489 10 Crossraguel Abbey NS 276083 24 Rothesay Castle, Bute NS 088646 11 Culzean Castle & Caves NS 233103 25 Rothesay, St Mary’s Church NS 086637 12 Dalquharran (Old) Castle NS 272019 26 Rowallan Castle NS 435424 13 Dean Castle NS 437394 27 Tarbolton Motte and Baileys NS 432273 14 Dundonald Castle NS 364345 28 Turnberry Castle NS 196072 THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 5 JOURNAL NO. 34 1 - Ardrossan Castle Top: Ground plan of surviving visible ruins, phase I being ascribable to late 13th or early 14th century, phase II (identifiable only on upper floors of gatehouse tower) to 14th century, and phase III to 15th century (David Caldwell) Below:Vaulted kitchen block from NE, 2009 (Creative Commons, Leslie Barrie) THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 6 JOURNAL NO. 34 2 - Auchans Castle Top; Engraved view from NE by R W Billings, ‘The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland’, volume 1 (Edinburgh, 1845-52) Floor plans by MacGibbon and Ross, published 1887 (North to the top) THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 7 JOURNAL NO. 34 3 - Ayr Citadel Top: Detail of John Slezer’s view of Ayr from NW, showing the citadel and St John’s Church, published in ‘Theatrum Scotiae’, 1693 (Reproduced by courtesy of the National Library of Scotland) Below: Position of fort as shown on Armstrong’s map, 1775 (Reproduced by courtesy of the National Library of Scotland) Inset: Turret at NW angle, partly rebuilt and nicknamed ‘Miller’s Folly’, 2013 (Wikimedia Commons, Rosser1954) THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 8 JOURNAL NO. 34 4 - Ayr, Loudoun Hall Top: Exterior view from E, 2007 (Wikimedia Commons, George Rankin) Below left: Satellite view showing location in relation to bridge, river and high street. Frontage was formerly to the W on Fort Street (Creative Commons, Google Maps) Below right: Scale model, Boat Vennel, Sandgate, Ayr (Wikimedia Commons, George Rankin) THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 9 JOURNAL NO. 34 5 - Baltersan Castle Top: General view from W, 2006 (Creative Commons, John McLeish) Below left: Re-entrant angle from W, showing entrance, overdoor panel and corbelled vice-stair, 2006 (Creative Commons, stephen samson). Below right: View from N, 2008 THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 10 JOURNAL NO. 34 6 - Blair Castle Top: General view from N, 2017 (Wikimedia Commons, Rosser1954) Below right: Ground-floor plan by MacGibbon and Ross, published 1892 Below: House and immediate surroundings on second edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, 1897 (Reproduced by courtesy of the National Library of Scotland THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 11 JOURNAL NO. 34 7 - Brodick Castle, Arran Top: Engraved view from S by Thomas Vivares, published in Francis Grose, ‘The Antiquities of Scotland’, volume 2 (London, 1791) Below: The baronial tower, now the SW corner of the building, added in the 1840s, 2012 (Wikimedia Commons, Graham Laird) THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 12 JOURNAL NO. 34 8 - Cassillis Castle Top left: Sketch of original tower from NE by MacGibbon and Ross, published 1889. Top right: View of tower nucleus from NE c. 2014-16 ( from the sales brochure ‘Cassillis Ayrshire, Scotland’ Savills, Edinburgh, (EDR100016_EDR14000484.pdf) Below left: First-floor plan of original tower by MacGibbon and Ross, published 1889. Below right: Cassillis shown on Gordon’s 1630s map in relation to ‘Minnibol’ (Maybole) where the family had another tower residence (Reproduced by courtesy of the National Library of Scotland) THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 13 JOURNAL NO. 34 9 - Craigie Castle Top: Section through the hall looking E by MacGibbon and Ross, published 1889 Below: Inner face of first-floor hall from NW showing window embrasures and ribbed vaulting, 2018 (Geoffrey Stell). (Inset) Site plan by MacGibbon and Ross, published 1889 THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 14 JOURNAL NO. 34 10 - Crossraguel Abbey Top: Engraved view from SE, published in John Slezer,‘Theatrum Scotiae’, 1693 (Reproduced by courtesy of the National Library of Scotland) Below left: View of gatehouse from S, 2008 (Wikimedia Commons, Walter Baxter) Below right: View of gatehouse stair tower and caphouse from E, 2008 (Wikimedia Commons, Walter Baxter) THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 15 JOURNAL NO. 34 11 - Culzean Castle and Caves Top: Clock tower and stable in castellated style, 2019 (Wikimedia Commons, LornaMCampbell). (Inset) Annotated ground plan based on Robert Adam’s 1785 proposals for redeveloping the old castle, from Arthur T Bolton, ‘The Architecture of Robert and James Adam’ (London, 1922), 264 (Cropped and earlier tower-house