Castle Kennedy

Castle Kennedy is a ruined 17th-century tower house. It is located about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the town of Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Sròn Reamhar, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh, Alba). It is around 1/2 mile (0.80 km) north of the village Castle Kennedy. There are records of a previous fortification on the site of Castle Kennedy at least in the fifteenth century and it is possible there was one before that. The Tower House that can be seen now was built in 1607 and situated on an island in Loch Inch.  A drainage scheme then resulted in the building being on its present stretch of land and between the separate White and Black Lochs.

This is an E-plan castle with the main block being four storeys with an attic. The building has two five-storey projecting square wings; also two seven-storey square towers in the re-entrant angles. There is a main turnpike stair in one of the seven-storey towers. At a later stage three-storey wings were built. All of the basement rooms, including the large kitchen, are vaulted. The public rooms were situated within the main block and a number of bedchambers were in the wings. The castle was destroyed by fire in 1716 and never restored. Castle Kennedy is now noted for its gardens described as one of Scotland’s most important historical landscaped gardens. The gardens are open to the public and details can be obtained from the Castle Kennedy Gardens website and the link is below.

Link:  Castle Kennedy Gardens.