Ardencaple Castle

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Ardencaple Castle 1901

Ardencaple Castle (also Ardincaple Castle or sometimes Ardencaple Castle Light ) is a ruined castle about 1.6 km away from Helensburgh in the Scottish administrative unit Argyll and Bute .

Today all that remains of the castle is a tower on the edge of a plateau over a flat piece of land between that plateau and the coast of the Firth of Clyde . The original castle is believed to have been built sometime in the 12th century, and part of it is believed to have existed in the 19th century. Today the only remaining tower serves as a navigation sign for the sea area of ​​the Firth of Clyde. Because of its use as a lighthouse , this tower is also called "Ardincaple Castle Light".

Lairds of Ardincaple

The place name "Ardencaple" or "Ardincaple" is said to be derived from the Scottish Gaelic "Ard na gCapull" (German: Cape of the horses, Cape of the mares or height of the horses). In 1351 this place name was registered as "Airdendgappil". Since the Middle Ages, the lands of Ardencaple have been controlled by the Lairds of Ardincaple . In the late 15th or 16th century, the Lairds adopted the MacAulay family name . At that time, the Laird of Ardincaple was considered the head of the Clan MacAulay .

In the 18th century the Lairds of Ardincaple lost their fortune. These chiefs of Clan MacAulay were forced to divide up and sell piece by piece their lands ruled by their ancestors. Archibald MacAulay, Laird of Ardincaple , had to sell part of his estate in the 1740s , although the roof had collapsed in the early 1750s and the castle was so dilapidated that the next laird had to give it up as a house and live in Laggarie . Around 1767, the 12th clan chief of the MacAulays died in High Laggarie (now part of the Rhu parish ).

Renovations to the Ardencaple property

Sketch by Robert Adam of the planned additions to Ardencaple Castle in 1774.

The property was then bought by John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll, and it remained in the Campbell family's possession until well into the 19th century . During this time, Robert Adam , then Scotland's best-known architect, carried out extensive renovations to the property. In 1764, when the castle was owned by Lord Frederic Campbell , Robert Adam was first asked for advice on work on the castle. The building was irregularly shaped at the time and Adam presented a plan of castle-like additions on the west side of the property that faced the Gare Loch . But the plan was not implemented and it was not until 1774 that Adam presented a set of drawings for additions to the southern half of the west facade. These extensions consisted of a D-shaped tower with three oriels , flanked by two smaller tourelles (see sketch on the left). Later photographs of Ardencaple Castle show that Adam's annex was changed or that some details from his sketch were not built that way. For example, the conical roofs and the stepped gable from the sketch do not appear in the photos of the castle. These photos show that the tower and the southern tourelle had one floor more than what Adam had drawn. According to David King , it is possible that Adam was responsible for this additional floor of the tower, but it is very unlikely that he changed just one of the tourelles as this would have disturbed the symmetry of the annex. Adam also planned that the tower should have a D-shaped dressing room on its main floor, the upper floor. However, it was later decided that the room should have an oval shape. David King notes that Adam had planned an ornamental ceiling for this room, but there is no trace of it in the 1957 photos. George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll , was born on April 30, 1823 at Ardencaple Castle. In 1852 the widow of the Duke of Argyll sold the Ardencaple estate to the wealthy Colquhouns from Luss .

Modern times and demolition of the castle

Ardencaple Castle Light . Today the tower serves as a navigation mark for ships in the Firth of Clyde.

In 1923 Sir Iain Colquhoun sold the castle to Mrs. H. MacAulay-Stromberg , a wealthy American who had the castle restored and lived there until her death in 1931. The castle fell to Adelaide Parker Voorheis until 1935 and then to a consortium of construction companies who built a large housing estate on what is now Tower Lawn from 1936–1937 . Then, with the outbreak of World War II , the castle was requisitioned by the Royal Navy .

In 1957, the government had most of the castle demolished to create a residential area for the nearby Faslane-on-Clyde naval base , leaving only one tower, which from then on served as a support for navigation beacons and navigation signs for the Royal Navy. Since that time the 14 meter high tower has been called the “Ardencaple Castle Range Rear Light” and has two green lights on its southwest corner. As of May 14, 1971, Historic Scotland listed Ardencaple Castle as a Category B Historic Building. Today, all that is left of the great castle with its tourelles is a single tower.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Adam Black, Charles Black: Black's Picturesque Tourist of Scotland . 15th edition. Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh 1861. p. 440.
  2. ↑ a b Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ^ John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll: Passages from the Past . Hutchinson. Pp. 185, 1907. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  4. ^ The New Statistical Account of Scotland . Volume 8, Chapter: Parish of Row . Pp. 73-75.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 25, 2017.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk  
  5. ^ Robert Ingram-Brown: Brown's Nautical Almanac: Daily Tide Tables . Brown, Son & Ferguson, 1974.
  6. ^ A b William John Watson: The History of Place-names in Scotland . W. Blackwood & Sons, 1926. p. 241.
  7. ↑ Michael Newton: Bho Chluaidh Gu Calasraid: From the Clyde to Callander . Acair, Stornoway 1996. ISBN 0-86152-265-6 . P. 143.
  8. ↑ a b Barbara Collier Cook, James Wyatt Cook: Man-Midwife, Male Feminist: The Life and Times of George MacAulay, MD, Ph.D. (1716-1766) . Scholarly Publishing Office (University of Michigan), 2004. ISBN 1-4181-6285-X . Pp. 1811-183.
  9. ^ Joseph Irving: The Book of Dumbartonshire . Volume 2. W. and AK Johnston, Edinburgh 1879. pp. 294-302.
  10. ^ Village History . rhu.org.uk. ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 27, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rhu.org.uk
  11. ^ William Anderson: The Scottish Nation; or the Surname, Families, Literature, Honors, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland . Volume 2. A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh 1862. p. 710.
  12. ^ David King: The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam . Architectural Press, 2001. pp. 220-222.
  13. ↑ Sir George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll . In: The Peerage . Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  14. ↑ Colquhoun Clan Beginnings . Colquhoun Imports. ( Memento of June 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  15. ↑ Ardencaple . Clan MacAulay Association in Scotland. ( Memento of August 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  16. ↑ a b c d Ardencaple Castle . Clan MacAulay USA. ( Memento of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  17. ^ The History of Helensburgh . Loch Lomond B&B and Loch Lomond Self-Catering Accommodation. ( Memento of May 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  18. ^ Ardencaple Castle Light . Lighthouse Depot. ( Memento of August 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 26, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Ardencaple Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 56 ° 0 ′ 32.9 "  N , 4 ° 45 ′ 25.1"  W.