Field Visit
Date April 1985
Event ID 1156531
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1156531
Dunure Castle NS 2522 1582 NS21NE 8
This castle is situated on a rocky coastal promontory 240m SW of Dunure harbour. The earliest identifiable portion comprises a tower and courtyard of probable late 14th century date; the tower was oblong on plan, measuring 11.3m by 6.1 m within walls 1.5m thick. During the late medieval period, the remains of this earlier castle were incorporated in a building of three principal storeys; on the SSW, a wing of two principal storeys (11m by 8.5m within walls up to 1.2m thick), with a corbelled machicolation, was added, and during the 16th century this was extended by the addition of a kitchen wing ( 11.2m by 5.6m within walls 1.1 m thick) provided with a corridor on its ENE side. The subsequent addition of these service ranges may obscure the original entrance/gatehouse arrangements which are known to have existed. A bailey on the precipitous seaward side of the promontory is partially defined by the remains of a wall 1.5m thick. A well-preserved 16th century beehive dovecot stands on a knoll 33m ENE of the castle (NS 2526 1584). There are no visible remains of a chapel which is said to have stood in the vicinity of the entrance to the castle. The castle was the property of the Kennedys, Earls of Cassillis. RCAHMS 1985, visited April 1985.
(Grose 1789-91, ii, 196-7; NSA, v, Ayr, 365, 385; Paterson 1863-6, ii, 380-2; Chalmers 1887-1902, vi, 467,493,494; MacGibbon and Ross 1896-7, iii, 341-4).
