Dalquharran Castle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dalquharran Castle
View from the south
Location	Dailly, South Ayrshire, Scotland UK
Built	1790
Built for	Thomas Kennedy
Architect	Robert Adam
Listed Building – Category A
Designated	14 April 1971
Reference no.	LB125
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Dalquharran Castle is a really old and important building in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was designed by a famous architect named Robert Adam and finished around 1790. The land where the castle stands has a long history. Records from 1474 show that Gilbert Kennedy was the first known owner of the property, which already had an older castle. The Kennedy family owned this estate for hundreds of years.

Where is Dalquharran Castle?

The castle is located near the village of Dailly in Scotland. It's a few miles inland from the Firth of Clyde, which is a large sea inlet. You can find it between the towns of Girvan and Turnberry on Scotland's west coast. It's about 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Ayr.

The estate actually has two "castles." There's the old one, which was left empty around 1800. Then there's the newer one, which is more like a large mansion. This newer building was lived in until the 1960s. The front of the new castle faces the Water of Girvan, a nearby river. Today, both castles are ruins. The new castle became a ruin after its roof was taken off in 1967 to avoid paying taxes on it.

The Castle's History: 17th and 18th Centuries

In the late 1600s, Sir Thomas Kennedy of Kirkhill bought the estate, including the old castle. He was a very important person in Edinburgh. His son, Thomas Kennedy of Dunure, later lived there. The old castle has been called by many names over time, like Dalqhrin and Old Place of Dalwharn.

Thomas Kennedy of Kirkhill also bought another castle called Dunure Castle. His son, Thomas Kennedy of Dunure, married the sister of the famous architect Robert Adam. Because of this family connection, Robert Adam designed a brand new castle for Thomas Kennedy. This new castle was built as a grand country home between 1785 and 1790.

Inside the New Castle

The new castle was designed to be very balanced and grand. It had a main entrance hall in the middle with a spiral staircase that let light in from the top. This was similar to another castle Adam designed, Culzean Castle. The house had four floors, with bedrooms on two of them. The inside was decorated in a classic style. The service areas, like kitchens, were in the basement.

One special part was a round tower on the south side. It had a drawing room on the ground floor and a library above it. From these rooms, you could see beautiful views of the Girvan Water. There was also a large oval dining room in the east part of the house.

When the new castle was finished in 1790, Thomas Kennedy moved in. The old castle was then left empty and became a ruin. It stands about 300 meters (980 ft) away, closer to the river. The old castle was made a protected monument in 1935. It was originally a rectangular tower that was made much bigger around 1679.

Outside the Castle

North of the main castle, Robert Adam also designed a long, low building for stables. These stables were connected to the main castle by walls with gates, creating a large front yard. The stable buildings were built in a simpler style than Adam first planned. This might have happened after he passed away in 1792. There were also several small lodges arranged neatly around the courtyard.

The Castle's History: 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries

The castle was made even bigger between 1880 and 1881. This was done by Francis Thomas Romilly Kennedy, who was a grandson of the original Thomas Kennedy. He needed more space for his wife and their nine children! New parts were added in a similar style by architects Wardrop and Reid.

The cost of these additions almost caused the family to run out of money. Because of this, the castle and its land were often rented out from the late 1800s. In the winter of 1904–1905, a very important politician named H. H. Asquith rented the castle. His daughter, Violet Bonham Carter, wrote in her diary in 1905 about how much she loved Dalquharran. She mentioned its old paintings, ruins, and beautiful gardens.

The Kennedy family sold the property in the 1930s. A timber merchant bought it and then rented the castle to the Scottish Youth Hostel Association from 1936 to 1939. During World War II, a school for deaf children from Glasgow used the castle as a safe place. Later, during the war, the estate was sold to John Stewart, who lived in the new castle with his family and farmed the land.

Eventually, the castle was left empty because it was too big and expensive to keep up. In 1967, the lead roof was taken off. This made the owners able to say it was no longer fit to live in, so they didn't have to pay taxes on it.

A Protected Building and Future Plans

Dalquharran Castle was officially named a "category A listed building" in 1971. This means it's a very important historic building. In the late 1960s, the inside of the castle was still in good shape. However, by 2017, photos showed that the inside was completely ruined. It's now too dangerous to go inside.

There have been many plans to redevelop the castle and its land. In 1990, permission was given for a huge project. This included two golf courses, a hotel, a conference center, a country club, and hundreds of holiday homes. But nothing was ever built.

The property was sold to developers in 2001. More plans were approved in 2004 and 2009 for smaller projects, like turning the castle into a hotel. In 2014, permission was asked to build 60 homes and 5 special "fractional" houses on the estate. This was approved, but the idea of turning the castle into a hotel was no longer mentioned. Sadly, none of these planned buildings have ever been built.

In June 2019, the entire 261-acre estate was put up for sale for £800,000. The company that owned it listed the property as including the "medieval ruins of Dalquharran Castle and the striking Dalquharran Mansion House." It also included farmland, woods, and other smaller development chances. This might mean the old, falling-apart buildings like a cottage, a former barn, the stables, and a stone farmhouse.

Gallery

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  South front

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  South front

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  Doorway from the drawing room, in the south front

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  Ruins of Old Dalquharran Castle nearer the river