Kilbirnie Castle
| Kilbirnie Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 The ruins of Kilbirnie Place from the south, with the built-in keep of Kilbirnie Castle |
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| Creation time : | 15th century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Ruins integrated into a country house | |
| Standing position : | Scottish nobility | |
| Place: | Kilbirnie | |
| Geographical location | 55 ° 45 '2.1 " N , 4 ° 42' 16.6" W | |
| Height: | 88 m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference | |
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Kilbirnie Castle is a ruined castle west of Kilbirnie on the lower slopes of Glengarnock Hills in the Scottish administration unit North Ayrshire .
The area is close to a stream and a small but deep ravine that once served as a defense for the castle.
history
The name "Kilbirnie" comes from the Scottish Gaelic and means "Church of Saint Brendan " in German . The parish was divided into three baronates : Kilbirnie, Ladyland and Glengarnock . The Baronate Kilbirnie was the largest in the parish with 2200 hectares of land and also the most fertile with 1200 hectares of arable land (pasture and forest).
At Kilbirnie Castle the Scots are said to have settled in 1263 under King Alexander III. before they fought the Norwegian forces in the Battle of Largs .
The castle stood high above the bend in a deep ravine, which offered protection on the west and north sides, even if it was set back from the edge of the ravine.
Timothy Pont's map from around 1604, published by Joan Blaeu in Amsterdam in 1654 , shows "Kilbirnan Castle" that was built in front of the country house . John Adair's map from around 1685 shows a crenellated building called Kilburny. Roy's map from 1747 shows the castle and a landscaped avenue in front of it. A Mains Farm is recorded near Kilbirnie Church. Thomson's 1832 map marked Kilbirny House and shows a road that runs directly from the house to the church. In the Ordnance Survey Map from 1856 the property is called "Kilbirnie House".
description
The impressive keep from the 15th century covers an area of 12.77 × 10.03 meters; the walls are 2.12–2.43 meters thick. There was a basement and a bedroom under a vault . Another vault housed a knight's hall , which was lit through three windows in the south wall and a window high up in the north wall. Below was a private room. The tower was four stories high and in the northwest corner there was a "hunger hole" prison, which could be reached via a hatch from a corridor of a staircase on the attic level. There were no loopholes .
To the northwest of the donjon lie the ruins of a former stove and other remains of buildings, probably the former kitchens.
Divine protection
In the largest open chimney of the donjon two hewn, red sandstone slabs are set, on which Gothic lettering can be seen. One of them reads “Maria”, the other, smaller lettering could not yet be deciphered. Sandstone pillars on either side of this open fireplace have depictions of climbing plants, probably ivy . One explanation of the Gothic lettering is that they are names of saints and that this was an apotropaion to ward off evil spirits at an otherwise “unprotected” entry point into the house.
The Puritans took action against depictions of St. Mary , but her name or, more commonly, her initials continued to be used throughout. The Gothic inscription and the location of the stones suggest that they used to be part of a burial site. This was considered doubly effective if they came from nearby Kilwinning Abbey , as they were thought to have sacred energies.
The old main entrance to the donjon was in the eastern corner of the north facade and later led to the courtyard. The ground level has been raised significantly and only an arch of the door is visible.
Cultivation and destruction
Kilbirnie Place was later added to the Donjon. Together with the country house, the donjon was destroyed in a fire that broke out on the morning of May 1, 1757 during construction.
Individual evidence
- ^ Anthony David Mills: Oxford dictionary of British place names . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-852758-9 .
- ↑ James Paterson: History of the Counties of Ayrs and Wigton . Volume IV: '' Cuninghame ''. Part 1 & 2. James Stillie, Edinburgh 1866. p. 282.
- ↑ James Knight: Glasgow and Strathclyde . Thomas Nelson & Sons, London 1936. pp. 83-84.
- ↑ Timothy Pont, Joan Blaeu: Cuninghamia / ex schedis Timotheo Pont; Ioannis Blaeu excudebat. Cunningham. . National Library of Scotland. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ↑ John Adair: A mape of the west of Scotland containing Clydsdail, Nithdail, Ranfrew, Shire of Ayre, & Galloway / authore Jo. Adair. . National Library of Scotland. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ Roy Military Survey of Scotland, 1747–55 . National Library of Scotland. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ John Thomson, William Johnson: Northern Part of Ayrshire, Southern Part . National Library of Scotland. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ Ordnance Survey: Ayr Sheet VII.08 (Kilbirnie). Survey date: date 1856. Publication: 1858 . National Library of Scotland. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ T. MacGibbon, D. Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries . Volume 1. David Douglas, Edinburgh 1887-1892. P. 390.
- ^ Mike Salter: The Castles of South-West Scotland . Folly, Malvern 2006. ISBN 1-871731-70-4 . P. 46.
- ^ T. MacGibbon, D. Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries . Volume 1. David Douglas, Edinburgh 1887-1892. P. 391.
- ^ T. MacGibbon, D. Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries . Volume 1. David Douglas, Edinburgh 1887-1892. P. 393.
- ↑ Timothy Easton, Jeremy Hodgkinson: Apotropaic Symbols on Cast Iron Firebacks . Academia. 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ T. MacGibbon, D. Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries . Volume 1. David Douglas, Edinburgh 1887-1892. P. 395.
