Ardgowan Castle, originally called Inverkip Castle, is located in the Private Garden of "

Ardgowan House Ardgowan House, Castle & Gardens is a privately owned late 18th-century mansion on the Firth of Clyde near Inverkip, Scotland. Ardgowan is located in Inverclyde, in the former county of Renfrewshire. The Ardgowan Estate has been held by the Stew ...

, Castle & Gardens" near

Inverkip Inverkip (; ) is a village and parish in the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland, southwest of Greenock and north of Largs on the A78 trunk road. The village takes its name from ...

, Scotland. It is near the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

Inverclyde Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which ...

, in the former county of

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

. The three-storey ruin of the 15th 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 ...

is protected as a

category B listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Location

The castle is sited within the Private Gardens of

and is not accessible to the public. It is however visible from the public path that runs directly below. It is situated on a promontory of a

raised beach A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin, ...

jutting out at a height of above coastal flats, with a level top defended by steep slopes or cliffs to each side of the point. The Tower was likely preceded by a wooden watch tower, built to fend off Viking raiders. Inverkip Castle later became an important medieval fortress.

History

Ardgowan Castle atop south-east facing cliff

Inverkip Castle featured in what was later called the

First War of Scottish Independence The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland (1296), English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until ...

. In 1301, King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

sent two armies into Scotland, with the plan that they would meet up at Inverkip. The main force under his own command struck through the East of Scotland, while his son Edward, Prince of Wales, commanded a Western army which captured

Turnberry Castle Turnberry Castle is a fragmentary ruin on the coast of Kirkoswald parish, near Maybole in Ayrshire, Scotland.''Ordnance of Scotland'', ed. Francis H. Groome, 1892-6. Vol.6, p.454 Situated at the extremity of the lower peninsula within the pari ...

and

Bothwell Castle Bothwell Castle is a large medieval castle, sited on a high, steep bank, above a bend in the River Clyde in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located between Bothwell and Uddingston, about south-east of Glasgow. Construction of the castle wa ...

, but the armies then met at

Linlithgow Linlithgow ( ; ; ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edi ...

to overwinter. In 1302

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

, Earl of Carrick, submitted homage to Edward of England, and on 12 May 1303 Bruce provided forces to a muster at

Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at lea ...

. While Edward invaded the East of Scotland, in July he ordered a contingent including

and

Aymer de Valence Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke ( 1270 – 23 June 1324) was an Anglo-French nobleman. Though primarily active in England, he also had strong connections with the French royal house. One of the wealthiest and most powerful men of his a ...

to press up through Clydesdale, and meet a large seaborne force led by Bruce's father-in-law the

Earl of Ulster The title of Earl of Ulster has been created six times in the Peerage of Ireland and twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1928, the title has been held by the Duke of Gloucester and is used as a courtesy title by the Duke's el ...

which attacked

Rothesay Castle Rothesay Castle is a ruined castle in Rothesay, the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in western Scotland. Located at , the castle has been described as "one of the most remarkable in Scotland", for its long history dating back to the begin ...

then besieged Inverkip Castle. By early September the joint force had taken both fortresses. Bruce is said to have taken part in the fight to seize Inverkip Castle, and then had the task of getting the

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while othe ...

s north for the English assault on

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

: on 16 April 1304 Edward wrote to thank Bruce, referring in particular to the problem of finding "a waggon fit to carry the frame" of "the great engine of Inverkip". In 1306, Inverkip was held for Edward by the Lothian Scot Sir Adam Gordon. Around mid March the castle was besieged by supporters of King Robert the Bruce, led by Robert Boyd of Cunningham. On 24 July 1306, after Bruce's defeat at the

Battle of Methven The Battle of Methven took place at Methven, Scotland on 19 June 1306, during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The battlefield was researched to be included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Sco ...

, Edward gave orders that Sir Thomas Randolph was to be held prisoner in Inverkip castle, supervised by Gordon, with no option of bail: by September of 1307 he had apparently been freed. When Bruce's ally Sir James Douglas defeated Sir

Philip Mowbray Sir Philip Mowbray or Philip de Mowbray (died 1318) was a Scottish noble who opposed Robert the Bruce in the Wars of Scottish Independence. He later changed his allegiance to Scotland and was killed in 1318 fighting in Ireland. Life He was th ...

in 1307, Sir Philip left his forces and escaped to Inverkip Castle, as described in John Barbour's ''

The Brus ''The Brus'', also known as ''The Bruce'', is a long narrative poem, in Early Scots, of just under 14,000 octosyllabic lines composed by John Barbour which gives a historic and chivalric account of the actions of Robert the Bruce and Sir ...

'': Sync throu the Largis, him allane
Till Ennerkip the way he tane,
Rigcht to the castell that wes then
Stuffyt all with Ingless men,
That him resaiffyt in daynte.G Blair (1907)
Greenock Street Names: Their History and Romance
' The English men later escaped from the castle by sea.

The Ardgowan Estate

In 1403,

King Robert III Robert III ( – 4 April 1406), born John Stewart, was King of Scots from 1390 to his death in 1406. He was also High Steward of Scotland from 1371 to 1390 and held the titles of Earl of Atholl (1367–1390) and Earl of Carrick (1368–1390) be ...

granted the lands of Ardgowan to his

natural son Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally marriage, married to each other, and of a child Fertilisation, conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitim ...

, Sir John Stewart. Ardgowan castle, now an inaccessible ruin, is a

built within the site of the earlier castle, and is dated to the late 15th century. It is sited on the south edge of the promontory, perched on a cliff. In 1667 Archibald Stewart was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, the title of which is still held by the Shaw Stewart family to this day. The 3rd Baronet married, in 1730, Helen Houston, heiress of the Shaws of Greenock. Their son Sir John Shaw Stewart, 4th Baronet, commissioned a design for

from the architect Hugh Cairncross. Construction began in 1798, and was completed around 1801, after which the old castle was abandoned. Its ruin was consolidated and repaired in 1936.

References

External links

Ardgowan House website
{{Authority control Category B listed buildings in Inverclyde Listed castles in Scotland Ruined castles in Inverclyde

Location

History

The Ardgowan Estate

See also

References

External links