Lochranza Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lochranza Castle, view from the southeast

Lochranza Castle , formerly also called Loch Ranza Castle , is a ruined castle in the Scottish village of Lochranza at the northern end of the Isle of Arran . It stands on a headland that protrudes into the southwest part of Loch Ranza Bay .

Founded in the 13th century by the MacSweens or the Stewarts of Menteith , it became the property of the Scottish royal family in 1266. About the Campbells the plant came in the 1450s to the family Montgomerie, who in the late 16th century to a Tower House rebuilt and goal for before the beginning of the 18th century as a pledge for a loan to the Dukes of Hamilton came . Not even 100 years later, the small complex was abandoned and without a roof, so that it fell into ruin in the course of the 19th century .

Since 1994 the building as is Scheduled Monument under monument protection .

history

Lochranza Castle was as Saalgeschossbau ( english hall house ) in the 13th century, perhaps by the MacSweens, Lords of Knapdale built. After Arran was finally removed from Norwegian rule after the Battle of Largs and incorporated into the Kingdom of Scotland , King Alexander III. Lochranza to Sir Walter Stewart , 4th Earl of Menteith . Because of this, it is also possible that Lochranza Castle was the founding of a family member of the Stewarts of Menteith. When Robert II ascended the Scottish throne in 1371, the complex was still owned by the Crown and was subsequently used as a royal hunting seat. The first written mention of the complex can be found in John Fordun's chronicle , where it is referred to as one of two royal castles on Arran. A little later, the facility was owned by John de Menteith , Earl of Arran , son of Walter Stewart, from whom it came to Sir Duncan Campbell of Locawe in 1433 along with various lands .

West view of Lochranza Castle on an engraving from 1790

For the period from 1445 to 1450, Ronald M'Alister is guaranteed as the castle vogt and leaseholder of the complex. Since his goods had been devastated by Donald Balloch of Islay during a raid on Arran, he refused to pay the annual taxes. King James II took Lochranza away from him and gave the castle in 1452 to Alexander, 1st Lord Montgomerie , ancestor of the later Earls of Eglinton , because Alexander's son Hugh , who was Vogt of Lochranza Castle from 1488, became James IV of Scotland 1489 raised to the rank of count . This king then used the castle as a base in his battle against the MacDonalds , Lords of the Isles, in the last decade of the 15th century .

In the late 16th century, the Montgomerie family expanded the simple two-story castle into a tower house with a square watchtower on the south corner. The existing building was increased by two storeys and all floors were divided into several rooms. In 1614 the complex was further fortified , in that year troops of the Scottish King James VI were in the castle . stationed. They were followed by Cromwell soldiers in the 1650s . In the mid-17th century, Lochranza was owned by Alexander Montgomerie, 6th Earl of Eglinton . When he died in 1661, his son Hugh succeeded him as the castle owner . In 1685 James Montgomery , 4th Baronet of Skelmorlie , received the complex and was inherited by his son Robert in 1696 . From him the property came in 1705 to Anne , the Duchess of Hamilton , in return for a loan.

At the end of the 18th century, the castle complex was no longer used and was abandoned after losing its roof in 1772. As a result of decades of sea erosion , the northern corner of the building collapsed in 1897.

description

Wehrerker above the castle entrance
View from above

Lochranza Castle is a typical Scottish tower house from the 16th century, which was created by expanding and remodeling a simple hall house from the 13th century. The core of the complex was a four-story rectangular building made of gray quarry stone , at the southern corner of which there was a five-story tower with a battlement . The basement of the tower, which measures 15.6 by 16.6 feet (about 4.75 by 5 meters) on the outside, appears to have been used as a dungeon . The corners of the entire building have blocks made of red stone and stand out well from the rest of the masonry . The entrance to the castle is located on the south-western long side of the 66 × 35  foot (around 20 × 10.5 meters) core building and is secured by an overlying weir bay with machicolations . It was not the original entrance, but was only broken out there in the 16th century. The original high entrance was on the eastern long side on the first floor and could be reached through a wooden staircase built on the outside. From there, the visitor went directly to the great hall of the castle. During the renovation work under the Montgomeries, the portal was converted into a window before it was finally completely walled up. In the western corner of the building, at the level of the fourth floor, there are the remains of a crowd watch tower resting on console stones .

Today's entrance led directly to a stone spiral staircase through which all floors were accessible. There was another, narrower staircase in the wall thickness of the northeast side. It led to the second floor of the core building. This was divided into two parts on all floors. The southern of the two consisted of a large room, while the northern part accommodated several small rooms. The ground floor had a vaulted ceiling and served as a storage room. In the southern part of the first floor there was the representative, 34.6 × 23 feet (approx. 10.5 × 7 meters) large hall ( English great hall ), while in the northern part the large castle kitchen and some service rooms were connected.

Floor plans of the individual castle floors; 1) = ground floor, 2) = 1st floor, 3) = 2nd floor, 4) = 3rd floor, 5) = basement

literature

  • Martin Coventry: The castles of Scotland. A comprehensive references and gazetteer to more than 2000 castles . 2nd Edition. Goblinshead, Edinburgh 1997, ISBN 1899874-10-0 , p. 245.
  • John MacArthur: The Antiquities of Arran. With a Historical Sketch of the Island, Embracing an Account of the Island . 2nd Edition. Black, Edinburgh 1873, pp. 153-156 ( digitized version ).
  • David MacGibbon, Thomas Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland . Volume 3. David Douglas, Edinburgh 1889, pp. 490-494 ( digitized ).

Web links

Commons : Lochranza Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ^ Entry of Lochranza Castle in the Historic Scotland database , accessed December 31, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b Information according to the information board on site
  3. ↑ a b Entry on Lochranza Castle  in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database, accessed June 23, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b Information on Burg at undiscoveredscotland.com , accessed June 23, 2013.
  5. ^ J. MacArthur: The Antiquities of Arran , p. 154.
  6. ^ D. MacGibbon, T. Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland , Volume 3, p. 494.
  7. ↑ Martin Coventry states in his book The castles of Scotland that Lochranza Castle came to the Campbell family as early as 1315.
  8. ^ A b c d M. Coventry: The castles of Scotland , p. 245.
  9. ↑ a b J. MacArthur: The Antiquities of Arran , p. 156.
  10. ↑ a b Information on Lochranza Castle on everycastle.com , accessed June 23, 2013.
  11. ^ A b D. MacGibbon, T. Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland , Volume 3, p. 490.
  12. ^ A b D. MacGibbon, T. Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland , Volume 3, p. 493.

Coordinates: 55 ° 42 ′ 19.3 "  N , 5 ° 17 ′ 27.8"  W.