Cloncaird Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cloncaird Castle from the east

Cloncaird Castle is a country house near the small village of Kirkmichael , about 6 km east of Maybole in the Scottish administrative division of South Ayrshire . The house is on the banks of the Kelsie Burn in 57 acres of land. The building was built as a castle in the 16th century and was expanded and converted into a country house at the beginning of the 19th century. After it served as a sanatorium for a time, it is now a private residence again.

history

The castle was originally built in the 16th century and was described in the style of the feudal country houses of that time. It had a large, square tower, narrow spiral staircases, and other contemporary details. A coat of arms with the date 1585 can still be found on a wall of the house. Towards the end of the 16th century the property belonged to Walter Mure , a descendant of the Auchendrane family and cousin of the Lord of Auchendrane, who directed the murder of Sir Thomas Kennedy of Culzean Castle . This Walter Mure from Cloncaird was the killer and had the support of his drinking companion , Kennedy from Drumurchy , in carrying out this act .

In the early 19th century, Henry Ritchie of Craigton and Busbie bought Cloncaird Castle. Henry Ritchie, born in 1777, was a descendant of James Ritchie , the "merchant citizen" of Glasgow , whose name appears in the 1674 Commisary Register . His family had settled in Creigton in Lanarkshire in 1746 . Henry's father James bought the lands of Busbie in Ayrshire in 1763 and in 1765 married Catharine Kerr , the daughter of Robert Kerr of Newfield , a grandson of the 1st  Marquess of Lothian . Henry Ritchie succeeded his father in 1799 as Lord of Busbie and Craigton and was married twice: for the first time to Elizabeth Cathcart († 1836) and then in 1838 to Catherine Fergusson , daughter of James Ferguson, 4th Baronet of Kilkerran . Ritchie had three unmarried daughters from his first wife when he died in 1843. The property fell to his sister's son, William Wallace of Cairnhill .

In 1905 Cloncaird Castle was sold by Colonel Wallace to a certain Mrs. Dubs , whom he then married in 1908. At that time the castle was extensively renovated and rebuilt. Mrs Dubs died in 1947 and from 1949 the mansion served as the Dubs Memorial Convalescent Home operated by the local government. When the sanatorium closed, the country house went back into private hands. Before 2003, Ephraim Belcher , CEO of Belcher Food Products, bought the house. Historic Scotland has listed the building as a Category B Historic Building. There are other buildings on the grounds of the country house that are considered historic Category C structures, such as an Arts and Crafts style garage , the U-shaped stables, and a bridge. There is also a pond, a weir with a fountain and an enclosed garden on the premises.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b A. H. Millar: The castles and mansions of Ayrshire illustrated in seventy views with historical and descriptive accounts . Edinburgh 1885.
  2. ↑ James Paterson: History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton . Volume 3: Cunninghame . 1866.
  3. ↑ a b c Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  4. ↑ Who earns what - part 4 . The Scotsman. September 23, 2003. Retrieved May 5, 2017.

Web links

Coordinates: 55 ° 20 ′ 4.2 "  N , 4 ° 35 ′ 24.7"  W.