Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016575
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016575
This outwardly simple and gaunt-looking ruined 'tower-house hides, within its walls, a surprise which gives added interest to what would otherwise be a comparatively nm-of-the-mill tower. Until recently it was thought to be a 16th century tower-house of typical L-shaped plan, but more detailed analysis of the fabric by Stewart Cruden suggested that incorporated within the 16th century work there was a much earlier and more interesting building. Subsequent restoration of the castle confirmed Cruden's interpretation, and it is now clear that Lochranza Castle began life as a hall-house of the late 13th to mid 14th century.
Hall-houses are comparatively rare, the majority having been destroyed or, as in the case of Lochranza, incorporated into later buildings. They comprise small, compact buildings characteristically used by the lesser nobility whose finances could not extend to the construction of larger castles. In many ways they are the forerunner of tower-houses but they were never designed to reach the height of towers, and the principal accommodation was normally arranged on two floors, the lower being used for storage, while the upper floor contained the lord's hall. They are commonly equated with the English fortified manor house, and in a Scottish context they should be compared with early tower-houses such as Dundonald Castle, no. 40. The early features at Lochranza which led Cruden to propose the existence of the hall-house are a blocked doorway on the north-east wall, which gave direct access to the lord's hall, a number of long arrow-slits and several narrow windows with widesplayed jambs and wide internal openings.
In the 16th century the hall-house was heightened to turn it into a conventional tower-house and crenellations were added. The internal arrangements were also considerably modified, with the principal entrance being moved to the middle of the south-west wall so that it would be overlooked by the wing that formed the foot on the L-plan.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
