Loch Doon Castle

Loch Doon Castle (also Balliol Castle ) is a ruined castle on the west bank of the Scottish Lake Loch Doon in the Council Area East Ayrshire . The ruin is listed as a Scheduled Monument .

history

The construction period of Loch Doon Castle can be narrowed down to the late 13th century. The earliest mention of it is from 1306 when attacking English troops took the castle, bringing down Robert the Bruce's last fortress in southwest Scotland. Loch Doon Castle once again played a role in the Scottish Wars of Independence when, in 1333, it was one of the last fortresses that the child king David II still held.

Probably around 200 years later, during the reign of James V , the castle burned down. Loch Doon Castle was rebuilt, but no longer in the previous quality. Instead of the finely hewn ashlar stones, rubble stone was used. A keep was also added. In the 19th century, the fortress was described as partially intact, but it was falling into disrepair. The owner at the time had the 70-step access staircase demolished in order to use the stone material to build a hunting lodge, which was ultimately little used because it was too cold for permanent residence.

Loch Doon was supposed to raise the water level around 1935. Since parts of the castle on a small island would have been destroyed by this measure, the ruins were removed and the structure moved to the west bank of the lake. The newer keep was not rebuilt here.

description

The original location of the fortress, now only in ruins, is on a small, nameless island in the south of Loch Doon. Today it is isolated on the south-west bank of the lake around 400 m away from its original location ( 55 ° 13 ′ 33.5 ″ N , 4 ° 23 ′ 5.5 ″ W ). Loch Doon Castle has an unusual, irregular, eleven-shaped plan. The masonry is described as extremely complex and solid for its time. 55.225972222222 -4.3848611111111