Arran, Kildonan Castle. General view from North East.

Description Arran, Kildonan Castle. General view from North East.

Date 19/5/1884

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 747866

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of BU 23

Scope and Content Kildonan Castle, Arran, North Ayrshire, from the north-east The ruins of Kildonan Castle, a fortified tower of a branch of the Macdonald family, stand on a rocky plateau on the south-east coast of Arran. The castle, built at some period between the 14th century and first part of the 16th century, is protected by a precipitous cliff on its eastern or seaward side, and by a ravine to the north. This photograph was taken by Erskine Beveridge in 1884. The walls of this rectangular tower survive to third-floor level. The entrance seems to have been on the ground floor, with a wheel-stair in the north-east angle which led to a hall on the first floor. The walls on the ground floor are 1.8m thick, but only 1.4m thick on the first floor. Both floors are barrel-vaulted, with the vault rising to almost 4m on the first floor. The top storey, now ruinous, was probably also vaulted, with stone slabs forming the roof. Although the castle is ruinous, many of the original features are clearly visible. The hall, the principal apartment which occupied the whole of the first floor, has a large fireplace in the south wall, and two windows in the side walls near the south end. There is also a garderobe or medieval privy, complete with descending vent-chute, in the south-east angle. The majority of the ground-floor roof still exists, along with two gun-loops in the north and south walls. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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