The Place of Kilbirnie

Описание: The Place of Kilbirnie is located in Kilbirnie, Scotland, to the West of the town and at the edge of Kilbirnie Place Golf Course. It is also known as Kilbirnie Castle and Kilbirnie House. It was the seat of the Barony of Kilbirnie

The Place consists of a tower built in the 15th century and a wing constructed in 1627 to form a mansion house.

The tower (or keep) was built in 1470 and, as there is reference to earlier historic events in the area, including the seat of the Barony in the early 1100’s, it was probably built on the site of an old structure, although I cannot find any reference to that. It is 13 metres by 10 meters with walls 2 to 2.5 meters thick.

Due to its solid construction it is the best preserved part of the Place, the mansion being a far less substantial construction.

There is a decorative fireplace, although not easy to see from the outside.

The Tower had a vaulted cellar, although this may well have been ground level, and above that a vaulted hall with 3 south facing windows. It was four stories high. From the outside it would appear there have been some changes to the windows, some being blocked off.

The ground level has been raised considerably since the place’s decline and only the top of the main entrance doorway exists.

The Crawfurds had inherited the castle in the late 15th century from the Barclays, believed to be a branch of the Barclays of Ardrossan. It was the Crawfurds who had the tower built.

The mansion was built on the south east corner of the keep with access being broken through into the hall of the keep. The structure consists of rubble with ashlar dressing, 23 meters by 8m. The mansion was of three stories with multi corbelled turrets.

It is reputed to have been at the forefront of mid 17th century design although it is now little known, perhaps as it was destroyed so long ago.

As it was of less sturdy construction the mansion has not fared well over time although the collapse of the southern turret and much of the wing appears to have been in the late 1950’s early 1960’s.

The original entrance was through a projecting porch which was an unusual feature.

The buildings were destroyed by fire in 1757 and were never rebuilt remaining as a deteriorating ruin. It has gradually become overgrown with trees and ivy alternately destroying it further and appearing to hold it together. There has been some recent work in clearing the area but, by the evidence of brickwork within the building some structural repairs have also been carried out in the past.

The site was considered a defensive position although the deep ravine that existed at the time has since been flattened.

The estate had substantial gardens and a long avenue, to the left of the picture, leading down to Kilbirnie which would have given ready access to Kilbirnie Auld Kirk where the Crawfurds had an aisle built in their name. Although there is nothing left of the gardens part of the avenue can still be made out on Google Earth.


References:
Places that we know: https://www.placesthatweknow.org/sens...
Historic Environment Scotland: https://portal.historicenvironment.sc...
Stravaiging: https://www.stravaiging.com/history/c...
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barony_...
Scottish Castles Association: https://www.scottishcastlesassociatio...


Music: Medieval Story by Serge Pavnik