Eglinton Castle
Eglinton Castle is the ruin of a large, crenellated country house in Kilwinning in the North Ayrshire administrative division of Scotland .
The cottage
The former seat of the Earls of Eglinton is just south of the town of Kilwinning. The original castle was burned down by the Earl of Glencairn in 1528 . The current country house was built between 1797 and 1802 in the neo-Gothic style . It had a central circular donjon 30 meters high and four outer towers 21 meters high; only Culzean Castle surpassed it in appearance and grandeur. The foundation stone for the new country house was laid in 1797 and the 12th Earl of Eglinton was proud that the ceremony was chaired by Alexander Hamilton of Grange , grandfather of the American politician Alexander Hamilton .
Eglinton Castle was the most notable by Robert Adam created, Georgian country house in Ayrshire . Among the many interesting pieces in the country house is an oak chair from Alloway Church, and in the back of the chair was a brass plaque bearing the entire Burns poem entitled Tam O'Shanter . It was sold at auction in 1925. The former Eglinton Castle was described around 1563-1566 as "beautiful castle, but without strength against any power". An escape tunnel is said to have led from the old castle to a group of rocks on the lawn in front of the castle. The appearance of the old waterfall could have been the reason for this story, because it looks like a locked entrance. In 1788 the total area of the Earls of Eglinton estate was 208.296 km². This included Little Cumbrae and the lands of Southanna and Eaglesham ( Polnoon Castle ).
The original castle of Eglinton could have been at Kidsneuk, Bogside , where a large mound stands and pottery has been excavated that suggests that the site was settled in the 13th century.
The first possessions of the Montgomeries were the Barony of Eaglesham and its Polnoon Castle .
For 1691, the Ayrshire Hearth Tax records for Eglinton Castle show 25 stoves in use, the highest number of stoves for a single house in Ayrshire. It was noted that the earl did not pay the hearth tax. The Earl's house in Kilwinning, the Easter Chambers, or the old abbot's house had fifteen stoves. 37 other houses were listed in the Barony of Eglinton.
The stables were built from bricks from the Easter Chambers of Kilwinning Abbey , as these were the home of the abbots and later the Earls of Kilwinning. In 1784 the building was demolished for four months and the blocks were brought to Eglinton.
The construction of the new country house was not seen as a relief everywhere. Fullarton writes that “the age-gray grandeur of the old fortress is buried deep amidst the thick forests of inconceivable growth that envelops and obscures it; no renewal and improvement project or change of any kind has ever been allowed to disturb the sanctity of their seclusion or to disturb the feelings of even the most meticulous admirer of things as they are or, perhaps more correctly, dare to be. ”The castle should had a ditch.
The time of the Covenanters
In the 1640s, Alasdair MacColla was sent by James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose , to suppress support for the Covenanters . He ransacked the Ayrshire lands for a few days and then asked for fines. Neil Montgomerie from Lainshaw negotiated a fine of 4,000 marks for the Eglinton property; three tenants had already been killed and some deer and sheep had also been stolen from the park.
Secret tunnel
There are rumors of a secret tunnel that is said to run from Kilwinning Abbey under Bean Yaird , under the Easter Chambers and Leddy Firs and then under Garnock to Eglinton Castle. There is no evidence of this is when the story perhaps in connection with the underground vaulted crypt of Montgomerie's is that there is under the old abbey. A secret or escape tunnel should also run from the country house to the old waterfall near the rock group. It is reported that a tunnel ran from Eglinton Castle to what is now the 'Castle Bridge'. This tunnel was lined with stones and high enough for a human to pass through. Probably this was the main sewer of the country house.
The ornamental gardens
Sir William Brereton describes the landscape as "a dry and poor land" on his journey south from Glasgow in 1636, but the Earls had clearly improved Eglinton, commenting that the land around Irvine was "a tender, pleasant, open, flat land “Was.
The property of the country house was described in a source from the 1840s as follows:
“His princely gates soon revealed and we thought we would find our way to Irvine easily through the park. It has been an immense pleasure to wander this sprawling estate. Soon we were walking down a beautiful avenue to the gardens. The fruit and flower greenhouses are of considerable size, and when we reached the ground floor we were delighted with the elegance that permeated it. A glassy river with a silvery cascade glided gently through these magical regions as if it were aware of the lush paradise it was watering. Neither the classic taste nor the art of horticulture wanted to turn this into a magical region. Two elegant cast iron bridges, vases, statues, a sundial; these wonderful combinations from the world of art had to please the viewer. On the way out of these luxurious regions we again strolled through dense forests and occasionally spotted glimpses of the proud castle that peered over the trees. After a while we found our way to a seat under some noble weeping willows and here we had a beautiful view of the castle, which was majestically enthroned above the dense canopy. "
“On our walks we passed an enormous, square building that looked like some of our hospitals in London. It was the stables, and they're pretty much detached, some way from the castle. We got lost on the many detours and wandered deeper and deeper into the depths of this vast property. As we were walking down a long avenue so dark we could not see our steps, myriads of rooks flew up as we approached, and the air was black with them. Once we walked along the enclosures, another time we walked through the deer park and startled these beautiful creatures from their early slumber. After a while we came to a gate that we surely assumed would lead us into the main street of Irvine. To our great disappointment, however, we found that this was a point from which roads extended in different directions, each of which led into thick forest, and it became apparent that we had a long way to go before we extended this Could leave the Eglinton estate. "
Service cites a verse concerning the Eglinton Forests:
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The Guid Wee Green Folk Doon by the Lugton, |
The mention in Badderley's 1890 Guide Through Guide indicates that the Eglinton Castle estate was open to the public on Saturdays.
Notable trees
The book Flora, Fauna and Geology of the Clyde Area lists notable trees in the Clyde area of Eglinton in 1901, thereby showing that the property had one of the most outstanding collections of significant trees in southern Scotland at the time. The cutting down of the trees to sell their timber was one of the first actions by the new owners to whom the property was sold in the late 1940s, but many of the trees had been removed by Neill of Perstwick and Howie of Dunlop by 1925 as both timber dealers were.
The most important trees were: holly (trunk circumference: 2.07 meters), plane tree (trunk circumference: 3.99 meters), field maple (trunk circumference: 1.95 meters), horse chestnut (trunk circumference: 3.43 meters), bird cherry (trunk circumference : 3.33 meters), hawthorn-leaved maple (trunk circumference: 2.5 meters), ash (trunk circumference: 1.37 meters), elm (trunk circumference: 3.81 meters), hornbeam (trunk circumference: 4.24 meters), holm oak ( Trunk circumference: 1.57 meters), sweet chestnut (trunk circumference: 4.85 meters), beech (trunk circumference: 5.53 meters), beech (trunk circumference: 2.70), larch (trunk circumference: 2.65 meters), Lebanon cedar (Trunk circumference: 3.0 meters) and Scots pine (trunk circumference: 3.33 meters).
The Eglinton Tournament
Eglinton Castle is best known for his lavish, but unhappy tournament of Eglinton , a tournament in the style of the Middle Ages , the Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton hosted, 1839th The cost and extent of the preparations became known across Scotland and a railway line even opened early to take guests to Eglinton Castle. Although it took place in midsummer, the typical Scottish torrential rain literally washed away the event, even though the participants tried to participate in competitions such as the joust in full, contemporary gear . Among the participants was Prince '' Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte '', who later became French Emperor Napoleon III.
The end of the country house
The immense maintenance costs, the poor condition of the country house and inheritance taxes took their toll on the family's finances. The country house was given up in 1925. In 1926 the roof was removed and the roofing sold after the contents of the house were sold in December 1925. Increasingly ruinous, the building finally came to an inglorious end in the Second World War when it was seriously damaged during an army training session . The army also partially destroyed the iron bridge that led to the old, fenced-in gardens.
The sale of the country house furnishings by Dowell's Ltd in 1925 comprised 1960 items for proceeds of £ 7004, 19s, 6d. The auction catalog provides an interesting glimpse into the family's feelings in those sad times when most of the Montgomery's history was sold off, such as: B. the armor of the 13th Earl from the 1839 tournament, a sign from the door of the carriage of the murdered 10th Earl, and many paintings of the family and the country house, including a portrait of this great beauty, Susanna Kennedy, Countess of Eglinton . The family moved to Skelmorlie Castle near Largs in 1925 .
Architectural drawings from March 1930 for plans to convert the stables into residential buildings for the Earl of Eglinton and Winton have survived to this day.
Much of the country house survived World War II, but most of the buildings were demolished for economic reasons; only the main tower and parts of the outer walls, the foundations and the wings of the country house were preserved.
According to a gardener, there was a room in Eglinton Castle that was never opened. Around 1925, a young man from Kilwinning decided to take some of the wood paneling from a room in the country house, as it was left to rot in the rain anyway because the roof had been removed. He went to the country house to take what he could carry, but one of the last pieces he picked revealed a woman's skeletonized hand. The entire skeleton was later taken away by a medical student, but the case was never reported to the police for fear of persecution.
today
Historic Scotland has listed the remains of Eglinton Castle as a Category C Historic Building. The stables are considered to be a historical category B building.
Eglinton Country Park
In the 1970s there were plans to open the vast 5.928 km² estate around the ruins to the public. The remains of the country house were made safe and everything was torn down except for the facade of a wing and the individual tower. The Eglinton Country Park is accessible for free today and is considered one of the most popular attractions in Ayrshire.
The Eglinton estate remained in ruins until Robert Clement Wilson bought it and opened a meat canning factory in the former stables. He also had the property restored to its former glory at his own expense. The canning factory that supplied all of the larger supermarkets had to close in 1996 as a result of the BSE crisis.
In 1963, Ian Anstruther wrote an entertaining account of the 1839 tournament called The Knight and the Umbrella .
The Eglinton Country Park was included in the Inventory Garden & Landscape Designed added.
Individual evidence
- ↑ George Way, Romily Squire (1994). Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia . 1994. pp. 278-279.
- ^ Kilwinning Heritage . Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Margaret HB Sanderson: Robert Adam in Ayrshire . Ayr Archaeological and Natural History Society, 1993. Monograph No. 11. p. 18.
- ^ J. Aikman, W. Gordon: (1839) An Account of the Tournament at Eglinton . Hugh Paton, Carver & Gilder, Edinburgh 1839.
- ^ A b Dowells Ltd .: Catalog of the Superior Furnishings, French Furniture, etc. Tuesday, December 1, 1925 and four subsequent days.
- ^ Military Report on the Districts of Carrick, Kyle & Cunningham in Archaeological & Historical Collections relating to Ayr & Wigton . Volume IV. Pub. Ayr & Wigton Archaeological Association, 1884. p. 23.
- ↑ Allison Barr: Oral Testimony 2008. Resident of Corsehillhead, Five Roads.
- ^ National Archives of Scotland . RHP35796 / 1-5.
- ^ Simpson, Anne Turner Simpson, Sylvia Stevenson: Historic Irvine the archaeological implications of development in the Scottish Burgh Survey . Dept. Archeology, University of Glasgow, Department for Archeology, Glasgow 1980. p. 23.
- ↑ Robert H. Urquhart, et al .: Robert H. et al. (1998). The Hearth Tax for Ayrshire 1691 in Ayrshire Records Series V.1 . Ayr Federal Historical Society, Ayr 1998. ISBN 0-9532055-0-9 . P. 91.
- ^ John Service: The Memorables of Robin Cummell . Alexander Gardner, Paisley 1913. p. 140.
- ^ John Fullarton: Historical Memoir of the family of Eglinton and Winton . Arthur Guthrie, Ardrossan 1864. p. 85.
- ^ Ian Anstruther: The Knight and the Umbrella . Alan Sutton, Gloucester 1986. ISBN 0-86299-302-4 . P. 27.
- ^ David Stevenson: Highland Warrior. Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars . The Saltire Society, Edinburgh 1994. ISBN 0-85411-059-3 . P. 205.
- ^ John Service: The Memorables of Robin Cummell . Alexander Gardner, Paisley 1913. p. 48.
- ↑ Sir William Brereton, Edward Hawkins (Editor): Travels in Holland, The United Provinces, England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Chetham Society, 1844.
- ^ Elvira Anna Phipps: Memorials of Clutha or Pencillings on the Clyde . C. Armand, London 1841. pp. 61-63.
- ^ John Service: The Memorables of Robin Cummell . Alexander Gardner, Paisley 1913. p. 181.
- ↑ Newsletter . 1989. p. 8.
- ^ GF Scott Elliot, M. Laurie, JB Murdoch: Fauna, Flora and Geology of the Clyde Area . Glasgow: British Association, Glasgow 1901. pp. 131-147.
- ↑ a b c Eglinton Archives . Eglinton Country Park.
- ^ Reverend William Ker: Kilwinning . AW Cross, Kilwinning 1900. p. 318.
- ^ Thorbjørn Campbell: Ayrshire. A Historical Guide . Birlinn, Edinburgh 2003. ISBN 1-84158-267-0 . P. 177.
- ↑ Viva Seton Montgomerie: My Scrapbook of Memories . Self-published in 1954, p. 98.
- ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ^ Ian Anstruther: The Knight and the Umbrella . Alan Sutton, Gloucester 1986. ISBN 0-86299-302-4 .
- ↑ Garden and Designed Landscape - entry . In: Historic Scotland .
Web links
Coordinates: 55 ° 38 ′ 30.4 " N , 4 ° 40 ′ 17.9" W.