Map of Loudoun Castle
Loudoun Castle is a ruined 19th-century country house near Galston, in the Loudoun area of Ayrshire, Scotland. The ruins are protected as a category A listed building. [1]
Loudoun Castle is a ruined 19th-century country house near Galston, in the Loudoun area of Ayrshire, Scotland. The ruins are protected as a category A listed building. [1]
Loudoun Castle is the former home of the Mure-Campbell family. [2] Upon the marriage by Flora Mure-Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun, to Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira (later Marquess of Hastings), on 12 July 1804, it became the home of the Rawdon-Hastings family. While Loudoun was in the ownership of Edith Rawdon-Hastings, the ownership named encountered a change once more by the death of Sir Charles Abney-Hastings, 2nd Bt. In Edith's inheritance there was a condition from Sir Charles, a natural grandson of the 10th Earl of Huntingdon – brother of Lady Edith's grandmother – that by Royal Licence and Act of Parliament, whoever inherited the estate of the Abney family shall take on the surname of Abney-Hastings. [3]
The present castle was built for Flora, adjoining the 17th-century extension, and the 15th-century keep. The plans of Loudoun Castle were drawn up in 1805 by the architect Archibald Elliot. [4] One estimate suggests that the "improvements" to Loudoun Castle between 1804 and 1811 cost over £100,000 – over £3,500,000 in today's money. [5] The massive structure, known as The Windsor of Scotland, had over 90 apartments, and was dominated by the main tower in the rear of the building. The regal library on the south front, measured 100 feet in length and contained upwards of 11,000 volumes. [4] [2] Archibald Elliot's plans included a large banqueting hall on the north front, but this was not built through lack of money. [4]
The plantations around the castle comprise a great variety of trees, many of them of very stately appearance and brought from America by John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, who was governor of Virginia in 1756 and who during his military services in various parts of the world sent home every kind of valuable tree he met with. He also formed an extensive collection of willows selected from England, Ireland and Holland. [2]
Janet Little (1759 to 1813), author of The Poetical Works of Janet Little, The Scotch Milkmaid worked at Loudoun Castle and was buried at Loudoun Kirk.
A 300-pound stone from Loudoun Castle in Scotland was presented to Loudoun County, Virginia by the Countess of Loudoun and the Queen's representative, the Rouge Dragon, in a special ceremony. [6] In 2015, during the 15th Earl's inaugural trip, he visited Loudoun County and posed for photos with Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York. [7]
Published text from The Antiquarian –
"The Countess of Loudoun recently arrived at Loudoun Castle with the sword of Wallace. This sword has been reserved in Loudoun Castle from death of Wallace until five years back when it was removed by the late Marquis of Hastings to his seat in Leicestershire. On the death of the marquis in 1868 it passed into possession of the present countess who has just brought back to its old home. It will be remembered that the mother of Wallace was a daughter of Loudoun, and that on death of his uncle Sir Reginald Crawford of Loudoun – hanged by the English at Ayr Wallace – Wallace had the custody of his only daughter Susanna Crawford of Loudoun married a son of Sir Niel Campbell of Argyll and ancestress of the present Countess of Loudoun the hereditary custodian of the sword of William Wallace. [8]
"One of Wallace's swords was a treasured family possession, and was hung in Loudoun Castle's entrance hall. To give a visual perspective, the hall was around 70 feet by 30 feet, [4] and the Wallace Sword was placed in a position of honour on the east wall."
A ley tunnel is said to run from Loudoun Castle, under the River Irvine, to Cessnock Castle over 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the south. [9]
Earl of Loudoun, named after Loudoun in Ayrshire, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1633 for John Campbell, 2nd Lord Campbell of Loudoun, along with the subsidiary title Lord Tarrinzean and Mauchline. The 1st Earl's wife Margaret was the granddaughter and heiress of Hugh Campbell, who had been created Lord Campbell of Loudoun; he resigned the peerage in favour of his grandson-in-law, who was later created an earl.
Baron Hastings is a title that has been created three times. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in 1290, and is extant. The second creation was in the Peerage of England in 1299, and became extinct on the death of the first holder in c. 1314. The third creation was in the Peerage of England in 1461, and has been in abeyance since 1960.
Baron Hungerford is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 7 January 1426 for Walter Hungerford, who was summoned to parliament, had been Member of Parliament, Speaker of the House and invested as Knight of the Order of the Garter before and was made Lord High Treasurer one year before he became a peer. The man who would later succeed as third baron was created Baron de Moleyns on 13 January 1445 by writ of summons; both titles merged when he succeeded as Baron Hungerford in 1459. The third baron was attainted and the peerage forfeit in 1461. This attainder was reversed in 1485 for the then 4th baroness of Hungerford, and so it came into the Hastings family of Earls of Huntingdon until 1789, when it came into the Rawdon(-Hastings) family of the Marquesses of Hastings until 1868 when it fell into abeyance. This abeyance was terminated three years later for a member of the Abney-Hastings family and an Earl of Loudoun. In 1920 it again fell into abeyance, which was terminated one year later for the Philipps family of the Viscounts of St Davids where it has remained since.
Marquess of Hastings was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 6 December 1816 for Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira.
Baron Grey of Ruthin was a noble title created in the Peerage of England by writ of summons in 1324 for Sir Roger de Grey, a son of John, 2nd Baron Grey of Wilton, and has been in abeyance since 1963. Historically, this branch of the Grey family was seated at Ruthin Castle in Wales.
Edith Maud Rawdon-Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun was a Scottish peer. She died aged 40 after caring for Rowallan Castle. Sir George Gilbert Scott designed an Eleanor Cross style monument to her which was erected in Ashby de la Zouch.
Flora Mure-Campbell, Marchioness of Hastings and 6th Countess of Loudoun was a British peer, the second daughter of James Mure-Campbell, 5th Earl of Loudoun and Lady Flora Macleod.
Baron Donington, of Donington Park in the County of Leicester, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 4 May 1880 for Charles Frederick Abney-Hastings. Born Charles Frederick Clifton, he was the widower of Edith Mary Abney-Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun. He and his wife had in 1859 assumed by Royal licence the surname of Abney-Hastings on succeeding to the Abney-Hastings estates after the death of his wife's kinsman Sir Charles Abney-Hastings, 2nd Baronet in 1858. They were both succeeded by their eldest son Charles Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 11th Earl of Loudoun and 2nd Baron Donington. However, on his death in 1920 the titles separated. The Scottish earldom was inherited by his niece Edith, daughter of his second brother the Hon. Major Paulyn Francis Cuthbert Rawdon-Hastings. The barony of Donington, which could only be inherited by male heirs, passed to his third brother Gilbert Theophilus, who became the third Baron. He had four daughters but no sons, and on his death in 1927 the barony became extinct.
Hastings is a surname of English and Irish origin, and is used also as a given name.
George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, styled Lord Rawdon from birth until 1817 and Earl of Rawdon from 1817 to 1826, was a British peer and courtier.
Edith Maud Abney-Hastings, 12th Countess of Loudoun was a British peeress.
Francis Hastings, Lord Hastings was the son of George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon and Dorothy Port. He married Sarah Harington, daughter of Sir James Harington and Lucy Sydney. They had five children:
Charles Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 11th Earl of Loudoun was a Scottish peer.
Loudoun Kirk is a disused church located about one mile west of Loudoun Castle, East Ayrshire. It served as Loudoun's parish church until some point after 1600, when this function moved to the church in nearby Newmilns. It subsequently fell into a state of disrepair, however since 1994 has been preserved by a local charity, Friends Of Loudoun Kirk.
The Hastings, later Abney-Hastings Baronetcy, of Willesley Hall in the County of Derby, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 28 February 1806 for the soldier Sir Charles Hastings. He was the illegitimate son of Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon. Hastings married Parnel Abney, daughter and heiress of Thomas Abney, of Willesley Hall, Willesley, Derbyshire, and granddaughter of Sir Thomas Abney, Justice of the Common Pleas. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles, the second Baronet, who assumed, by Royal Licence dated 1 December 1823, the additional surname of Abney, before that of Hastings, on succeeding to the Abney estates through his mother. Abney-Hastings represented Leicester in Parliament between 1826 and 1831. The title became extinct on his death in 1858. Abney-Hastings's Blackfordby and Packington estates passed to his kinsman Henry Rawdon-Hastings, 4th Marquess of Hastings, while Willesley Hall was left to Lady Edith Maud Rawdon-Hastings, later Countess of Loudoun, the Marquess's eldest sister and wife of Charles Frederick Clifton, who in 1859 assumed the surname Abney-Hastings.
Countess of Loudoun is the title which may be held by a woman in her own right or given to the wife of the Earl of Loudoun. Women who have held the title include:
Bertha Lelgarde Clifton, 22nd Baroness Grey de Ruthyn was a British aristocrat.
Paulyn Reginald Serlo Rawdon-Hastings, 3rd Marquess of Hastings, styled Earl of Rawdon from birth until 1844, was a British peer and officer in the British Army.
Gilbert Theophilus Clifton Clifton-Hastings-Campbell, 3rd Baron Donington was a British peer and soldier.
Lady Flora Paulyna Hetty Barbara Abney-Hastings was a British noblewoman. She was the daughter of Charles Abney-Hastings, 1st Baron Donington, and Edith Rawdon-Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun. Lady Flora married Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk on 18 March 1878, and they had one child, Philip Joseph Mary Fitzalan-Howard, Earl of Surrey, Earl of Arundel.
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