Carrick Castle is a 14th-century tower house on the west shore of Loch Goil on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is located between Cuilmuich and Carrick, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Lochgoilhead.
| Carrick Castle | |
|---|---|
 Carrick Castle being restored, 2019 | |
  | |
| General information | |
| Type | Tower House |
| Location | Cowal Peninsula, Argyll and Bute. |
| Town or city | Carrick Castle (village) |
| Country | Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 56°06′31″N 4°54′20″W / 56.108742°N 4.9054980°W, National grid reference NS 19422 94469 |
| Construction started | 14th Century |
| Height | 64ft |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Stone |
| Floor count | 2 |
The castle stands on a rocky peninsula, and was formerly defended to landward by a ditch and drawbridge. The building is around 66 by 38 feet (20 by 12 m), and up to 64 feet (20 m) high with walls seven feet thick.[1] 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 and a Category A listed building by Historic Environment Scotland.[2][3]
Modern-day houses in the surrounding area take the name Carrick Castle.
History
editThe castle was probably built by the Campbells in the last decades of the fourteenth century,[4] at a point of time when the family was dominant in the area.[5]
It was used as a hunting lodge by James IV.[6][7][8][9] Mary, Queen of Scots visited in 1563.
,_Scotland-LCCN2002695018.jpg)
During Argyll's Rising in 1685, when Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, attempted to overthrow King James VII, 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.[10][11]
The castle was intermittently occupied until it was sold to the Murrays, the Earls of Dunmore.
The keep was a ruin for many years but is now in private ownership and undergoing restoration.
Notes and references
edit- ^ Groome, F.H. (1882–1885). "Carrick". Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Thomas C. Jack. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Carrick Castle (SM2495)". Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "CARRICK CASTLE (Category A Listed Building) (LB11815)". Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ Argyll: An Inventory of the Monuments (1992) pp. 21, 226 § 116.
- ^ Argyll: An Inventory of the Monuments (1992) p. 229 § 116.
- ^ "Lochgoilhead Visitor Guide - Accommodation, Things To Do & More". www.visitscotland.com.
- ^ Lomond, Loch; G83 8EG, The Trossachs National Park Authority Carrochan Carrochan Road Balloch. "Lochgoilhead | Respect Your Park". Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ The Rough Guide to Scotland. Rough Guides UK. April 2011. ISBN 9781405389365.
- ^ Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. HarperCollins. 2000. ISBN 9780007103539.
- ^ Ewart & Baker 1998.
- ^ Clark 1921, p. 74: "[Thomas Hamilton] rendered James no small service in capturing, off the west coast of Scotland, some of the ships which the Earl of Argyle had equipped to aid Monmouth in his rising."
- Clark, Ruth (1921), Anthony Hamilton: his Life and Works and his Family, London: John Lane
- Historic Environment Scotland. "CARRICK CASTLE (Category A Listed Building) (LB11815)".
- Ewart, Gordon; Baker, Fiona (1998). "Carrick Castle: symbol and source of Campbell power in south Argyll from the 14th to the 17th century" (PDF). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 128: 937–1016.
- Groome, Francis, Hindes (1882). "Carrick". Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland : a survey of Scottish topography, statistical, biographical, and historical. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: T.C. Jack. pp. 242.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Argyll: An Inventory of the Monuments. Vol. 7, Mid Argyll & Cowal. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. 1992. ISBN 0-11-494094-0 – via ScotlandsPlaces.
- MacGibbon, David; Ross, Thomas (1889). The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland, from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: David Douglas. pp. 186–192.
External links
edit
- Map sources for Carrick Castle
