Culzean Castle

The castle of Culzean has long gone, absorbed by the 18th century castellated mansion of the Kennedy family. Although parts of the structure actually belong to the 16th century or earlier tower house, they cannot be differentiated from the rest of the house.

Culzean is on the Ayrshire coast in a clifftop location, overlooking the sandy Culzean Bay to the north. A castle is mentioned as having been here as early as the 15th century, and it was known as the castle of Coif or Cove until the 17th century at least. Culzean was one of a number of lands held by the Kennedy family in the area, who had risen to a position of authority under the Earls of Carrick.

They would, therefore have been members of the retinue of the Bruce family, who acquired the Earldom of Carrick by marriage in the second half of the 13th century, and later of the Stewart monarchy. The chief of the family was based at Dunure, a castle a short distance up the coast from Culzean, and it appears that the Kennedies of Coif were descended from Sir Gilbert of Dunure, who was last mentioned in 1429.

John Kennedy of Coif is mentioned as Keeper of Loch Doon Castle in 1450, and in 1505 the lands of Culzean were resigned by Gilbert of Coif back to John, 2nd Lord Kennedy. A second family of Coif Kennedies are recorded in the 1550s and 1560s, Thomas son of Thomas Kennedy, infeoffed in 1555, his brother David, who was infeoffed in 1567, and David’s son Alexander, who was infeoffed in 1586.

The first Thomas was known as the uncle to the 3rd Earl of Cassilis in 1540 (as the Lords Kennedy had become known), which demonstrates that they were a second family and not descended from the earlier John and Gilbert. Both the younger Thomas and David of Coif were hostages for the ransom of the Earl, taken prisoner by the English in 1543.

After Alexander, Coif must have reverted back to the Lords Kennedy, for another Thomas, brother to the 4th Earl, who was to build a new castle at Culzean. Captured at the Battle of Langside in 1568, he was knighted by the King in return for his loyalty to Queen Mary. He was granted the lands of Culzean, and after the death of the Earl in 1576, became tutor to his 2 year old nephew.

In about 1590, he carried out extensive works to the existing tower of Coif, which by the time he had finished had taken the form of a substantial L-plan tower house of four storeys and an attic, which had been extended with a second hall block to the north. This may have been the third phase of building at Culzean Castle – at this point the names Coif and Culzean were interchangeable. A drawing of the 18th century suggests that the oldest tower was a square building to the south-west of the new house at the edge of a quadrangular courtyard in which the new house was built. A further two storey wing with large chimneys had been attached in addition, probably in the 17th century.

Sir Thomas the tutor was murdered in 1602 as part of a bout of infighting between different branches of the Kennedies, and was followed by six more Kennedies of Culzean. Little is told of the history of Culzean and its lairds for the next 150 years. Mid-century Thomas Kennedy of Ardmillan confessed to delivering a letter from Montrose to Culzean at his trial by the kirk, which presumably asked for his support for the King against the Covenant, but this appears to be the total of his efforts. The 6th Earl had signed the Covenant and was strongly Protestant in his faith, so perhaps this was a token gesture by Montrose.

Sir Archibald of Culzean (d1710) fought on the side of the Jacobites in the first rebellion in 1689, but died before the 1715 rising; however on the whole the Kennedies stood aloof from involving themselves with the rebellion, neither the Earls of Cassilis nor the Kennedies of Culzean are known to have fought for either Jacobites or the Government of William and Mary.

When the 8th Earl of Cassilis died in 1759, Thomas of Culzean was in line to inherit the title. Thomas had already started to significantly alter the castle inside. In 1750 he radically altered the ground floor of the old tower house, creating a new dining room overlooking the gardens, where previously would have been vaulted cellars. This room is now known as the library. He then altered the roofline and turrets, remodelling the entire top floor. In addition a new suite of buildings was built to the seaward side of the castle, a two storey range that included offices and a billiards room. These can be seen in a sketch of the period that survives today.

It was his brother David, who succeeded him in 1775. At this date, the castle was still recognisable, but Earl David changed that, inviting Robert Adam to submit plans to update and modernise the castle. To begin with, the L-plan castle was squared up, and a large wing added at each end to form a rectangular plan. At the corners of the squared up central block and the external corners of the wings, full height round turrets were added. This work was completed by 1784, at which point painting show that the old tower house could still be made out – just – within the altered and extended mansion. In particular the twin gables of the top storey of the hall block and wing can be seen above the superstructure of the mansion.

However this was to disappear, with the second phase of building, extending out to the cliff edge, demolishing the suite of buildings built by Earl Thomas. He turned to Adam, who created new masterplans, involving the removal of the old tower house wing to create the cavernous oval staircase space, and the squaring up of the extended mansion at first floor level above a lengthy clifftop wing which terminated in a substantial new set of buildings to the south-west. The centrepiece of this work was the circular drawing room overlooking the sea. The tower house was lost within this enormous building, its vaulted basements having been combined to form a single room, the great hall just one large room among many. The upper floors had been entirely removed to facilitate the new design, which takes the appearance of a central rectangular keep from the south, and included the partially glazed roof above the oval stair.

Neither Adam nor Earl David lived to see the mansion completed. Both men died in 1792, the Earl leaving debts of £60,000 (over £4 million equivalent today). The Earl had instructed in his will that the estate and title of Earl should pass to his wealthy, but elderly cousin Captain Archibald. This resulted in a legal dispute, but the bankrupted estate did eventually pass to him, and in 1793 to his son, another Archibald, who finally completed the works.

Culzean Castle today is looked after by the National Trust for Scotland, and is their most visited property. Large sections of the house are open to the public, including the two rooms containing fabric from the old tower house, and the grounds contain many fascinating sections, allowing for a lengthy visit. The only parts of old Culzean that remain to be seen, however, require a walk down to the beach at low tide, and a sturdy pair of shoes. Passing the purely decorative artillery position to the south-west of the castle and down a long set of stairs (slippery in the wet), you reach the shore. Turn right, and walk around the rocky promontory to stand beneath the mansion, which can be made out above.

There are a couple of cast iron sewage pipes here, but nestled in the cliffs are the remains of much older masonry, clearly blocking up the entrances to two caves, which run right beneath the castle. They are not left open for public access at all times, although I am led to believe they are sometimes open. They were used for smuggling and although legend says otherwise, there doesn’t appear to have been access to the castle from them unless the passages have collapsed. Several burials are known to have taken place within them, dating from as early as the 8th/9th century.

Official National Trust for Scotland page

HES Canmore database entry