Carrick Castle is a 14th-century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

on the west shore of

Loch Goil Loch Goil; () is a small sea loch forming part of the coast of the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch is entirely within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. It is an arm of Loch Long. The village of Lochg ...

on the Cowal Peninsula, in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, west of Scotland. It is located between Cuilmuich and Carrick, south of

Lochgoilhead Lochgoilhead (, IPA: �kʰʲaun̴̪ˈɫ̪ɔxˈkɤilə is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. It stands at the head of Loch Goil. Location The village is surrounded by se ...

. The castle stands on a rocky peninsula, and was formerly defended to landward by a ditch and

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

. The building is around , and up to high with walls seven feet thick. It consists of two floors above the central great hall and stands 64 feet high. There is a curiosity – a small chimney is built into a window recess. There is an appendage of a smaller 17th Century structure to the original rectangular tower house. The structure 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 ...

and a

Category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) *Category (V ...

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

. Modern-day houses in the surrounding area take the name

Carrick Castle Carrick Castle is a 14th-century tower house on the west shore of Loch Goil on the Cowal, Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is located between Cuilmuich and Carrick, south of Lochgoilhead. The castle stands on a rocky ...

History

The castle was probably built by the Campbells in the last decades of the fourteenth century, at a point of time when the family was dominant in the area. It was used as a hunting lodge by

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

visited in 1563. During

Argyll's Rising Argyll's Rising, also known as Argyll's Rebellion, was an attempt in June 1685 to overthrow James II of England, James II and VII. Led by Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, the rising was intended to tie down Royal forces in Scotland while ...

in 1685, when

Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll Archibald may refer to: People and characters *Archibald (name), a masculine given name and a surname * Archibald (musician) (1916–1973), American R&B pianist * Archibald, a character from the animated TV show '' Archibald the Koala'' Other us ...

, attempted to overthrow King

James VII James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glor ...

, captain Thomas Hamilton of HMS ''Kingfisher'' reported that the castle had been burnt and walls reduced sufficiently to make it useless to the Campbell forces. Legend has it that the ship bombarded the castle, badly damaging the keep, which lost its roof. The castle was intermittently occupied until it was sold to the

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

s, the

Earls of Dunmore Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The title Earl of Dunmore was created in 1686 for Lord Charles Murray, son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. The title passed down through generations, with various earls serving i ...

. The keep was a ruin for many years but is now in private ownership and undergoing restoration.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrick Castle Cowal Castles in Argyll and Bute Listed castles in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Argyll and Bute Scheduled monuments in Argyll and Bute Tower houses in Scotland Hunting lodges in Scotland

History

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links