Law Castle is situated on the lower slopes of Law Hill on the edge of

West Kilbride West Kilbride () is a village and historic parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the west coast by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the Firth of Clyde to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran. West Kilbride and adjoining districts of Seamill and P ...

, in

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire (, ) is one of 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and s ...

, Scotland. It is around from the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

. The castle is a simple rectangular structure with a sloped roof and several large chimneys protruding at each side. It is similar in character to other tower houses located nearby, including

Little Cumbrae Castle Little Cumbrae Castle sits on Castle Island or Allin Tuirail from the meaning "islet of the nobles' tower", a small tidal island situated off the east coast of Little Cumbrae, in the Firth of Clyde. It is designated as a scheduled monument. Hi ...

and

Skelmorlie Castle Skelmorlie Castle stands on the eastern shore of the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, at the north-western corner of the county of Ayrshire. The structure dates from 1502, and was formerly the seat and stronghold of the Clan Montgomery, Montgomery Cl ...

, and is a category A

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, Hi ...

. It was built for Princess Mary, sister of King James III, as a wedding gift upon her marriage in 1467 to Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran. In 1469 Thomas travelled to Denmark to escort James III's bride Margaret of Denmark, but he was forced to remain abroad as he and his father Lord Boyd were

attaint A writ of attaint is an obsolete writ in English law, issued to inquire whether a jury had given a false verdict in a trial. In criminal cases, the writ of attaint was issued at the suit of the Crown, and in civil cases at the suit of either par ...

ed for treason in 1469. The marriage was thereby annulled and Thomas died a few years later, possibly in Antwerp. The castle was recorded as roofless but intact from the later 19th century. In the late 1980s it was purchased by a Mr Philips, who began restoration work on the castle. However, the castle was repossessed in 2002 prior to the restoration being completed, and

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

took legal action to recover £116,000 in grant funding from Mr Philips. The castle was subsequently bought by David Hutton, who completed the restoration in 2005.

References

External links

Law Castle
{{Castles in North Ayrshire Castles in North Ayrshire Category A listed buildings in North Ayrshire Listed castles in Scotland Tower houses in Scotland