Sorn Castle is located by the River Ayr just outside the village of Sorn in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The castle comprises a medieval tower house, which was extended over the years, and remodelled in the Scots Baronial style by David Bryce in the 1860s. [1] The castle is protected as a category A listed building. [2]
A tablet on the castle wall states "Extant AD 1409, Added to AD 1783, Restored AD 1865, Enlarged AD 1909". [3]
The original three-storey tower house is located at the south-west of the present building, and was constructed in the 15th century, or possibly earlier. This tower was extended westwards in the 16th century. [3] Additions were made in the late 18th century in a castellated style. In the 1860s the Somervell family owned the castle, and commissioned David Bryce to remodel the building. Sorn Castle was bought in 1908 by Thomas W. McIntyre, who commissioned a new entrance from architect Henry Edward Clifford and carried out internal remodelling. [1]
In September 1598 the wedding of Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox and Jean Campbell, a great-granddaughter of James IV of Scotland, was celebrated with a banquet at Sorn attended by James VI, who stayed two nights. [4]
Ayrshire is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire to the north-east, Dumfriesshire to the south-east, and Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire to the south. Like many other counties of Scotland it currently has no administrative function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. It has a population of approximately 366,800.
Dunbeath Castle is located on the east coast of Caithness, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of Dunbeath, in northern Scotland. Although a castle has stood here since the 15th century, the present building is of mainly 17th-century origin, with 19th-century extensions. The castle is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Methven Castle is a 17th-century house situated east of Methven, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
Dunstaffnage Castle is a partially ruined castle in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. It lies 3 miles (5 km) NNE of Oban, situated on a platform of conglomerate rock on a promontory at the south-west of the entrance to Loch Etive, and is surrounded on three sides by the sea. The castle and the nearby chapel ruin have been a Historic Scotland property since 1958. Both are Scheduled Ancient Monuments.
Closeburn Castle is a tower house, probably of the 14th century, but possibly older, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited houses in Scotland. The castle is located 1 km east of the village of Closeburn, in the historical county of Dumfriesshire, 2 km south-east of Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
Penkill Castle is a 16th-century castle with later additions. It is around 1⁄2 mile south of Old Dailly, northeast of Girvan in south Ayrshire, Scotland.
Law Castle is situated on the lower slopes of Law Hill on the edge of West Kilbride, in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is around 200 metres (660 ft) from the railway station.
Bavelaw Castle is a historic house in the City of Edinburgh Council area, Scotland. It is north of Hare Hill in the Pentland Hills, four miles west of Penicuik, and two miles south of Balerno, above Threipmuir Reservoir. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971.
Caldwell is a mansion and old estate with the remains of a castle nearby. These lands lie close to the Lugton Water and the villages of Uplawmoor in East Renfrewshire and Lugton in East Ayrshire.
Craigcrook Castle is a well-preserved 6,701 square feet (622.5 m2) castle giving its name to the Craigcrook district of Edinburgh, about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. The castle is primarily of the 17th century, though with later additions. In the 19th century, it was the home of Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, and became known for its literary gatherings. It is a category B listed building.
Balcarres House lies 1km north of the village of Colinsburgh, in the East Neuk of Fife, in eastern Scotland. It is centred on a mansion built in 1595 by John Lindsay (1552–1598), second son of David, 9th Earl of Crawford. The house became the family seat of the Earl of Crawford. The present house is the result of substantial extensions in the early nineteenth century, using part of a fortune made in India, but preserves much of the original mansion.
The Shaw Monument is an 18th-century folly standing about 1 mile East of Prestwick, overlooking Prestwick Airport in South Ayrshire, Scotland.
Aberuchill Castle is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Comrie in Perthshire, Scotland. It comprises an early 17th-century tower house, which was extended and remodelled in the 19th century. The house, excluding the later west wing, is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Balbirnie House is an early 19th-century country house in Glenrothes, in central Fife, Scotland. The present house was completed in 1817 as a rebuild of an 18th-century building, itself a replacement for a 17th-century dwelling. The home of the Balfour family from 1640, the house was sold in 1969 and opened as a hotel in 1990. The grounds now comprise a large public park and a golf course. The house is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Ochiltree Castle is a 16th-century tower house a few miles south east of Linlithgow in West Lothian, Scotland. It is also described as a farmhouse and lairds house. Along with its boundary wall, the castle was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971.
Mauchline Castle, also known as Abbot Hunter's Tower, is a rectangular tower house dating from the fifteenth century, in Mauchline, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The tower once formed part of a group of monastic buildings associated with Melrose Abbey, and today is a category A listed building.
James Somervell (1845–1924) was Conservative MP for Ayr Burghs. He won a by-election in 1890, but he lost his seat to William Birkmyre, the Liberal candidate, in the 1892 general election. He had earlier contested the 1885 general election for the Conservatives, but lost to the Scottish Liberal Party candidate Archibald Corbett.
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.
Caprington Castle is a 15th century keep, incorporated in a castellated mansion, about 2 miles (3.2 km) south west of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, south of the River Irvine.
Cullen House is a large house, about 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) south-west of the coastal town of Cullen in Moray, Scotland. It was the seat of the Ogilvies of Findlater, who went on to become the Earls of Findlater and Seafield, and it remained in their family until 1982. Building work started on the house in 1600, incorporating some of the stonework of an earlier building on the site. The house has been extended and remodelled several times by prominent architects such as James Adam, John Adam, and David Bryce. It has been described by the architectural historian Charles McKean as "one of the grandest houses in Scotland" and is designated a Category A listed building. The grounds were enlarged in the 1820s when the entire village of Cullen, save for Cullen Old Church, was demolished to make way for improvements to the grounds by Lewis Grant-Ogilvy, 5th Earl of Seafield; a new village, closer to the coast, was constructed for the inhabitants. Within the grounds are a bridge, a rotunda and a gatehouse, each of which is individually listed as a Category A structure.
