Culzean Castle ( , see yogh; sco, Cullain) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

overlooking the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

, near Maybole, Carrick, in

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 Jun ...

, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the

Marquess of Ailsa Marquess of Ailsa, of the Isle of Ailsa in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 10 September 1831 for Archibald Kennedy, 12th Earl of Cassilis. The title Earl of Cassilis (pronounced "Cassels") ...

, the chief of

Clan Kennedy Clan Kennedy is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Publishe ...

, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The clifftop castle lies within the Culzean Castle Country Park and is opened to the public. From 1972 until 2015, an illustration of the castle was featured on the reverse side of five pound notes issued by the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster B ...

. As of 2021, the castle was available for rent.

History

Culzean Castle was constructed as an L-plan castle by order of the 10th Earl of Cassilis. He instructed the architect Robert Adam to rebuild a previous, but more basic, structure into a fine

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

to be the seat of his

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particula ...

. The castle was built in stages between 1777 and 1792. It incorporates a large drum tower with a circular saloon inside (which overlooks the sea), a grand oval staircase and a suite of well-appointed apartments. The castle was the venue, on 14 November 1817, when the 1st Marquess of Ailsa's daughter,

Margaret Radclyffe Livingstone Eyre Margaret Radclyffe Livingstone Eyre née Lady Margaret Kennedy, later (and mistakenly) called the Countess of Newburgh (6 June 1800 – 3 September 1889) was a British philanthropist. Said to be an "archetype of the nineteenth-century charitable ...

, married Thomas, Viscount Kynnaird. Margaret would become a noted philanthropist. In 1945, the Kennedy family gave the castle and its grounds to the National Trust for Scotland (thus avoiding

inheritance tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an e ...

). In doing so, they stipulated that the apartment at the top of the castle be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War. The General first visited Culzean Castle in 1946 and stayed there four times, including once while President of the United States. The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry, a British Yeomanry

cavalry regiment Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating a ...

, was formed by the

Earl of Cassillis Marquess of Ailsa, of the Isle of Ailsa in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 10 September 1831 for Archibald Kennedy, 12th Earl of Cassilis. The title Earl of Cassilis (pronounced "Cassels") ...

at Culzean Castle in about 1794. On 24 June 1961, the regiment returned to the castle to be presented with its first guidon by

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Horatius Murray, KBE, CB, DSO. The castle re-opened in April 2011 after a refurbishment funded by a gift in the will of American millionaire William Lindsay to the National Trust for Scotland. Lindsay, who had never visited Scotland, requested that a significant portion of his $4 million go towards Culzean. Lindsay was reportedly interested in Eisenhower's holidays at the castle. Culzean Castle received 333,965 visitors in 2019.

Features

The armoury contains a propeller from a plane flown by Leefe Robinson when he shot down a German airship north of London in 1916. To the north of the castle is a bay containing the ''Gas House'', which provided

town gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...

for the castle up until 1940. This group of buildings consists of the gas manager's house (now containing an exhibition on

William Murdoch William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish engineer and inventor. Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton & Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten yea ...

), the Retort House and the remains of the gasometer. There are sea caves beneath the castle which are currently not open generally, but are open for tours throughout the summer. The castle grounds include a walled garden, which is built on the site of the home of a former slave owned by the Kennedy family,

Scipio Kennedy Scipio Kennedy (–1774) was a slave who was taken as a child from Guinea (region), Guinea in West Africa. After being purchased at the age of five or six by Douglas of Mains, Captain Andrew Douglas of Mains, he worked as a slave under his ...

Ghosts

The castle is reputed to be home to at least seven ghosts, including a piper and a servant girl.

Film and television appearances

*Culzean Castle is used as the castle of Lord Summerisle (played by

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...

) in the 1973

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage i ...

'' The Wicker Man''. The scenes here were filmed between October and November 1972.Culzean Castle, Ayrshire & Arran, WhichCastle.com
/ref> *Culzean Castle featured in the 1997 PBS documentary series ''Castles of Scotland''. *The ''

Most Haunted ''Most Haunted'' is a British paranormal reality television series. Following complaints, the broadcast regulator, Ofcom, ruled that it was an entertainment show, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal, and "should not be taken s ...

'' team led by Yvette Fielding,

Karl Beattie Karl Beattie is an English television director, producer and cameraman. Beattie and wife Yvette Fielding co-own and run Antix Productions. Career Karl Beattie's documented life has references to him teaching martial arts within the US. In 2002, ...

and medium Derek Acorah explored Culzean Castle's paranormal stories and reported sightings of ghosts for an episode of the first series, broadcast on Living TV in 2002. *The BBC TV ''

Coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

'' programme visited in series 2 episode 3 first shown in November 2009. *Culzean Castle appeared on the programme '' The Little Couple'' from TLC, where the family visited the castle on the Series 9 pilot episode in 2016. *It was the location for two episodes of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

’s '' Antiques Roadshow'' filmed in 2020 and transmitted in February and April 2021.

Gallery

References

External links

Culzean Castle – visitor information
at the NTS website.

* ttp://digital.nls.uk/74582316 Engraving of Cullean castleby James Fittler in the digitised copy o
Scotia Depicta, or the antiquities, castles, public buildings, noblemen and gentlemen's seats, cities, towns and picturesque scenery of Scotland
1804 at

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in t ...

Video footage of the Culzean Coal Gas WorksVideo footage of the Culzean caves
{{Coord, 55.3544, -4.7895, display=title Castles in South Ayrshire Category A listed buildings in South Ayrshire Listed castles in Scotland Reportedly haunted locations in Scotland Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Robert Adam buildings National Trust for Scotland properties Gardens in South Ayrshire Historic house museums in South Ayrshire Country houses in South Ayrshire Clan Kennedy Firth of Clyde