Barr Castle

Описание: A video about Barr Castle.

Music is ‘Spring Breeze of Meditation by White Records.

Barr Castle is a ruin situated between Kilbirnie and Lochwinnoch in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies on a ridge to the west of Barr Loch.

It can be seen from the A760 road between Lochwinnoch and Kilburnie.

It can also be seen from the cycle path between the two towns which follows the old railway line.

The ruin consists of a rectangular tower which was constructed in the 15th or 16th century. It has been protected as a scheduled monument since 1935 but has notably deteriorated since then.

There would appear to have been some restoration work done since and the windows and doors have been blocked up.

The castle is a late medieval tower house and would have been built as a fortified dwelling place for the owners. It is quite a plain building.

It is a four story building. There was originally a garret above a corbelled parapet but only the corbelling remains.

The entrance was originally on the first floor on the west side via an external stairway but this was later changed to a ground level entrance below the original entry.

There is a reference to a later build in the 17th century with an extension to the south, , when the defensive nature of the building was abandoned the marks of the eaves are still there. Nothing remains of this extension.

Entry into the tower is not possible due to the metal door blocking the entry but the internal structure can be viewed to some extent form above.

From a description of the internals, it would appear the ground floor had vaulted ceilings and the view from above would indicate that this ceiling still exists, as only 3 floors can be seen.

The internal view gives a clearer view of the windows and also shows other recesses which have been described as closets but there are likely to have been gun or other weapon ports.

The plan view also shows two staircases in the north west and south west corners of the tower.

There are few remaining ornamental features, however, a pediment above the entrance inscribed with the initials of Margaret Hamilton and John Wallace remains.

The tower was originally constructed by the Glen Family. The Glens of Barr became prominent in Renfrewshire in the 1400’s and held the lands of Barr with a charter being granted for the lands of Barr, Bridge End and Lynthills in 1506 . There is little other information on the family.

It passed to the Hamiltons of Ferguslie in the 17th century on the death of Alexander Glen in 1629 but was abandoned in the 18th century for a new mansion.

At that point the lands were sold to the Clan MacDowall who appear to still own the land but they appear to have had no interest in the castle which fell in to ruin.