Ardrossan Castle is situated on the west coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the town of

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns#Scotland, Three Towns'. Ardrossan is loca ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

. The castle, defended by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, stands on a ridge above the town. There is a

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

dating from the fifteenth century, and a vaulted range containing a kitchen and cellars. In a deep passageway there is a well. Part of the keep remains up to the

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a bearing weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applie ...

of the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

, but it is in ruins. The original castle, owned by Clan Barclay, was partly destroyed during the

Wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of Scotla ...

. This event, in which the English garrison was slaughtered, became known as "Wallace's Larder," a name which is still applied to the remaining vaults. Rebuilt by Clan Montgomery in the 15th century, Ardrossan later fell into disuse and was partially demolished by the soldiers of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

in the 17th century who used the stones to help construct the Ayr Citadel. This castle is the subject for a

ghostlore Ghostlore is an intricate web of Tradition, traditional beliefs and folklore surrounding ghosts and List of reportedly haunted locations, hauntings. Ghostlore has ingrained itself in the cultural fabric of societies worldwide. Defined by narrative ...

story featuring the ghost of

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

History

Ardrossan Castle is situated upon a rocky hill, which gives it its name, made up of ''ard'', meaning height, and ''rossan'', a rocky

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

. The present ruins are on the site of an earlier castle owned by the Barclay family. By the thirteenth century it had passed to the Ardrossan family. The castle has long been deemed a distinctive feature of the town of Ardrossan. It was included, for example, in the tour book from 1847 titled ''Sylvan's Pictorial Handbook to the Clyde and its Watering-Places'' by Thomas and Edward Gilks. There the castle is described as a marker of regional identity and subject antiquarian interest, from which beautiful views of the ocean can be seen. The Gilks state that Ardrossan was originally called "Castle Crags", but was renamed Ardrossan after the family who owned it. At the time of writing the castle was the property of the Eglintoun family, though it was already ruined, and was adjacent to an old churchyard.

Later history

The Earls of Eglington kept the castle, and the accounts for 1617 include "seventeen feet of rigging-stone" worked by a stonemason for repairs. In 1648

's troops destroyed the castle, removing much of the stone and taking it to Ayr to build a fort, called the Ayr Citadel, there. The ruins of this castle still stand, but are in hazardous condition. The building has been designated a

Scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

Legends

The castle is said to be haunted by the ghost of

, who is said to wander the ruins on stormy nights. The castle is also associated with the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

. Sir Fergus Barclay, also known as "the De'il of Ardrossan", was a horseman, famous around the lands for his tremendous skill. The secret to his skill, however, was a magical

bridle A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the "bridle" includes both the that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit. It prov ...

, which was given to Barclay by the Devil, in exchange for his soul. However, the Devil was tricked by Barclay into giving his soul back. Infuriated by this trickery, the Devil attacked the castle in his rage, and is said to have left his hoof prints on one of the rocks. Sir Fergus Barclay is buried in the castle

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, situated a few hundred yards inland from the castle, further down the hill.

Gallery

File:ArdrossanCastle1.JPG, Ardrossan Castle in 2002 File:ArdrossanCastle4.JPG, Ardrossan Castle in 2002 File:ArdrossanCastle5.JPG, Ardrossan Castle in 2002

Underground

File:Larder Stairwell.jpg File:Secondary Access.jpg

Notes

Bibliography

* Coventry, Martin. ''The Castles of Scotland'', Goblinshead, 2001 * Guthrie. ''History of Ardrossan'', Guthrie Press * Gilks, Thomas and Edward.
Sylvan's Pictorial Handbook to the Clyde and its Watering-Places
' 1847

External links

Ardrossan Castle
at CANMORE, Historic Environment Scotland
Ardrossan Castle video and commentary
{{Authority control Castles in North Ayrshire Category B listed buildings in North Ayrshire Listed castles in Scotland Reportedly haunted locations in Scotland Scheduled monuments in North Ayrshire Ardrossan−Saltcoats−Stevenston