Monkcastle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monkcastle front facade

Monkcastle even Old Monkcastle , is the ruin of a small manor house between Kilwinning and Dalry on the highway A737 in the Scottish administration unit North Ayrshire . The property served as a country residence for the abbot of the Tironensier monks of Kilwinning Abbey . Historic Scotland has listed the 16th century building as a Category B Historic Building. Nearby is the 19th century country house Monkcastle House .

history

Timothy Pont described Monkcastle in 1606 as "quite a beautiful building, well-placed".

description

Monkcastle in northern Ayrshire . You can see the canal to Glasgow, but this section was never built.
An empty coat of arms above the entrance

The ruins of Monkcastle are located in a light forest west of the A737 trunk road on the right bank of the River Garnock , about 2 km south of Dalry and about 4 km north of Kilwinning. The small mansion from the end of the 16th century replaced earlier buildings at this point, and a Monkcastle has been recorded here since 1536. The ruins of the manor house cover a floor space of approximately 14.59 meters by 5.47 meters and are still two stories high; it has a stair tower protruding in the middle, which is another story higher. The entire, ruinous interior is provided with supports made of masonry and concrete; the ground floor has a vaulted ceiling . The entrance door is unusually wide and low and above it is a stone relief. The entire building gives the impression of a residential building rather than a fortress. It has a stepped gable and the stones are laid in bands. In 1895, Smith noted that the mansion's ruins had recently been restored and suggested further security work.

Reverend William Lee Kerr described the mansion as ruinous in 1900 and mentioned cellars, "traces of which can still be found underground". No such traces are visible today.

Near the ruins are said to be the thrown up remains of an old pigeon house , which looked more like an ice house . The Ordnance Survey map shows a formal garden south of the ruined mansion. Robert Close sees similarities with Crosbie Castle in Prestwick .

The estate

Monkcastle Burn waterfall at the top of Monkcastle Glen

In 1866, the Monkcastle lands were 144 hectares. William Campbell Miller died without a will in 1857 at the age of 15. At the time of his death he resided at Saxe Coburg Hall in Edinburgh and the following lands were on the inventory of his estate: Baidlandhill and Windyedge in Dalry Parish, Hill of Fergushill in Kilwinning Parish, Craighead, and Craighead Mill, High Monkcastle and Low Monkcastle , Hillend , Farmyard , Old House Farmhouses , Crofthead , Heatterhill , Bannock and Monkredding House .

Under the ownership of the Grant family , the farms were gradually sold until only the core of the property remained.

An old road, believed to have been built by the monks for their tenants, ran from the monks' mill at Craigmill in Lynn Glen via Craighead and High Monkcastle down to Monkcastle, where it joined the road to Kilwinning Abbey.

The following people and stoves are registered on the property in the “Stove Control Rolls” for 1691: Montcastell House 6, Martha Docheon 1, James Miller (Bryheid) 1, Robert Miller (Cragmylne, no payment) 1, Robert Boyll 1, Robert Gaven 1, George Logane 1, William Miller 1, John Wilsonne 1, John Stewart 2.

The Black Man's Path ran from Old Monkcastle to Monkcastle House and was named after Antonio Escazio , a servant of the Grants at Monkcastle House, who traveled this route regularly. It is not known what country this servant came from, but San Antonio de Escazu is a city in Costa Rica ; the servant is buried in Kilwinning cemetery.

Alexander William Miller was an enthusiastic agricultural reformer and actively supervised the farm work on the property. He encouraged people to “farm with the spade” so that they could regularly produce 60–70  bushels of grain per acre, while the plow generally only yielded 30 bushels.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Ness: Kilwinning enclyclopedia . Kilwinning & District Preservation Society, 1990. p. 65.
  2. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ^ T. McGibbon, D. Ross: The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries . Volume IV. Edinburgh 1887-1892. P. 121.
  4. ^ Dane Love: Ayrshire: Discovering a County. Ayr . Fort Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-9544461-1-9 . P. 53.
  5. ↑ Entry on Monkcastle  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  6. ^ A b Robert Close: Ayrshire and Arran: An Illustrated Architectural Guide . Royal Incorporation of Architecture in Scotland, 1992. ISBN 1-84158-267-0 . P. 89.
  7. ↑ Michael C. Davis: The Castles and Mansions of Ayrshire . Spindrift Press, Ardishaig 1991. p. 330.
  8. ↑ James Paterson: History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton. V. - II - Cunninghame . J. Stillie, Edinburgh 1863-1866. P. 509.
  9. ↑ Millers of Monk Castle . Ayrshire History. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  10. ^ The 1691 Hearth Tax Rolls for Ayrshire . Ayrshire Roots. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  11. ↑ James Paterson: History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton. V. - II - Cunninghame . J. Stillie, Edinburgh 1863-1866. P. 510.

Web links

Commons : Monkcastle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 55 ° 40 ′ 59.9 "  N , 4 ° 42 ′ 56.9"  W.