Baltersan Castle | |
---|---|
General information | |
Status | Ruins |
Type | tower-house |
Town or city | Maybole |
Country | Scotland |
Coordinates | 55°20′34″N4°42′35″W / 55.342731°N 4.709822°W Coordinates: 55°20′34″N4°42′35″W / 55.342731°N 4.709822°W |
Completed | 1584 |
Owner | Lichtsome Hoose Ltd |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 5 originally, none remain |
Floor area | 250 m2 (2,700 sq ft) |
Grounds | 0.75 acres (0.30 ha) |
Baltersan Castle is a ruined L-plan tower house located near Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was originally graded as a Category B listed building in 1971, but this was upgraded to Category A in 1995. [1] It is currently for sale and is listed as at moderate risk by the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. [2]
The site was originally occupied by Baltersan House, owned by Egidia Blair, Lady Row, who died in 1530. After her death, the house was demolished. [3] The remains of her tomb can be seen in nearby Crossraguel Abbey. Her will survives and shows she was a generous benefactor to the Abbey, relatives, friends and neighbours. The inscription above the door tell us that the existing tower-house was built on the site in 1584, [4] the work of John Kennedy of Pennyglen (near Maybole) and Margaret Cathcart, his spouse. [5]
Timothy Pont's 16th-century description of Baltersan described the castle as
"A stately fine house with gardens, orchards, parks and woods about it ..."
John Kennedy, "apparent of Baltersan", the heir, was a royal servant in 1601. [6]
In 1721, the castle passed into the hands of Captain Hugh Arbuthnot, cousin to John Kennedy of Baltersan. By the middle of the 18th century, the castle had become abandoned and remains so to the present day. [7] Int
The castle was featured in an episode of Dragons' Den in 2005 in which the owner presented his restoration plans and time share financing strategy. As of September 2020, the castle is for sale, and in need of restoration. [2]
The castle is a three-storey L-plan castle with an attic and garret. Its walls measure 4 feet (1.2 m) in thickness. It has a vaulted ground floor and ashlar turrets on the northwestern and southeastern angles that are provided with gun loops. [5]
Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825. It is a Category A Listed Building and the estate is listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Culross (/ˈkurəs/) is a village and former royal burgh, and parish, in Fife, Scotland.
Neidpath Castle is an L-plan rubble-built tower house, overlooking the River Tweed about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Peebles in the Borders of Scotland. The castle is both a wedding venue and filming location and can be viewed by appointment.
Maybole is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of 4,580 in 2020. It is situated 9 miles (14 km) south of Ayr and 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is bypassed by the A77.
Floors Castle, in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is an estate house rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for Duke John, possibly incorporating an earlier tower house. In the 19th century it was embellished with turrets and battlements, designed by William Playfair, for The 6th Duke of Roxburghe. Floors has the common 18th-century layout of a main block with two symmetrical service wings. Floors Castle stands by the bank of the River Tweed and overlooks the Cheviot Hills to the south.
Blenkinsopp Castle is a fire-damaged, partly demolished 19th-century country mansion, incorporating the ruinous remains of a 14th-century tower house, which is located above the Tipalt Burn approximately one mile south of Greenhead, Northumberland, England. It is a Grade II listed building; it is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument as one of the "surviving tower houses retaining significant medieval remains".
Carsluith Castle is a ruined tower house, dating largely to the 16th century. It is located beside Wigtown Bay in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, Scotland, around 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) south east of Creetown.
Greenan Castle is a 16th-century ruined tower house, around 2+1⁄2 miles southwest of Ayr in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Situated at the top of a sea cliff, it was originally a promontory fort converted into a motte-and-bailey in the 12th century. In the 15th century a tower house was built by the Lords of the Isles, which later passed into the hands of the Kennedy family.
Dunure is a small village in the South Ayrshire area of Scotland about five miles from Ayr, Scotland. It is located on the coast of the Firth of Clyde, and is near to Maybole, south of Ayr.
Barholm Castle is a tower house located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Gatehouse of Fleet, in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway, Scotland. The tower dates back to the late 15th century, and it was a stronghold of a branch of the MacCulloch family. The present form of the castle dates from rebuilding in the 16th or 17th century, and in the early 2000s it was restored from a roofless state to residential use. The tower is sometimes identified with the fictional Ellangowan, in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering.
Abbot's Tower is a late-16th-century tower house situated near New Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, that was built by the Abbot of Sweetheart Abbey. The building was restored in the early 1990s and is now used as a private residence and as a bed and breakfast. This structure should not be confused with the Abbot's Tower of Alnwick Castle.
Pitfour Castle is an 18th-century country house situated on the southeast edge of the village of St Madoes in the Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. It is a Category A listed building.
Castle Kennedy is a small village 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is on the A75 road, and is within the civil parish of Inch. The village is to the south of the Lochinch Castle estate, which includes the ruins of the 17th-century Castle Kennedy, as well as Castle Kennedy Gardens which are open to the public.
Creich Castle is a ruined tower house near Creich, Fife, Scotland. The tower house and its associated buildings is a scheduled monument. There is a mention of a castle on the property in the 13th century, but it is uncertain what relationship that has to the existing structures. There is documentary evidence of a tower in 1553, but the existing structure either postdates that or has been heavily remodeled, judging by its architectural style.
The Castle of Park is a 16th-century L-plan tower house near Glenluce, in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a category A listed building.
Hoddom Castle is a large tower house in Dumfries and Galloway, south Scotland. It is located by the River Annan, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south-west of Ecclefechan and the same distance north-west of Brydekirk in the parish of Cummertrees. The castle is protected as a category A listed building.
Oxenfoord Castle is a country house in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of Pathhead, Midlothian, and 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south-east of Dalkeith, above the Tyne Water. Originally a 16th-century tower house, the present castle is largely the result of major rebuilding in 1782, to designs by the architect Robert Adam. Oxenfoord was the seat of the Earl of Stair from 1840, and remains in private ownership. It is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Blackhall Manor is a tower house near Paisley in Renfrewshire, in the western central Lowlands of Scotland. It dates to the sixteenth century, although parts may be older, and formerly belonged to the Stewart or Shaw-Stewart family. It was designated as a Category B listed building in 1971.
Dalquharran Castle is a category A listed building in South Ayrshire, Scotland, designed by Robert Adam and completed around 1790. The first recorded lord of the property which already included a castle, was Gilbert Kennedy, as stated in a 1474 Charter for the nearby Crossraguel Abbey; the estate was later owned by the Kennedy family for centuries.
Cloncaird Castle is located near the small village of Kirkmichael, around 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Maybole in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The castle lies beside the Kelsie Burn, at the centre of a 140 acres (57 ha) estate. Originally a 16th-century castle, it was extended and rebuilt as a country house in the early 19th century. After a time as a convalescent home, it is now a private residence once more.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baltersan Castle . |