Note

Date 5 July 2022

Event ID 1138957

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1138957

The site of the Castle is traditionally said to have been occupied by the Lord of Galloway from as early as the 12th century. However, although it is a naturally strong site with the steep sides of the rocky knoll having been surrounded by marsh, there is no evidence to support that view. A castle was first firmly recorded on the site in 1517 although there may have been a residence here from the mid-15th century, when Kenmure appears to have become the principal residence of the Gordons of Lochinvar.

In 1568 the castle was besieged and apparently completely destroyed by the forces of the Regent Moray because of Sir John Gordon of Lochinvar's support of Mary, Queen of Scots. The castle was then rebuilt by Sir John, but was again damaged by Cromwellian forces in 1650. The appearance of the castle was recorded by Francis Grose in 1790, and it was also painted by Alexander Nasmyth; these are of great value for showing the castle before the extensive modifications at several dates in the course of the 19th century. After a period as a hotel in the late 1940s, in the early 1950s the roof was removed and the interior gutted.

Kenmure Castle occupies the flat summit of a recontoured knoll near the head of Loch Ken; it was the seat of the Gordons of Lochinvar, later the Viscounts of Kenmure.

The castle was initially built around a courtyard, with a principal range of three storeys and a garret extending along the west side, and with a high enclosing wall on the other sides. The main gateway was in the north wall. There were towers at the north-west and north-east angles. In the 17th century the west range was remodelled and a new south range was possibly built, which may have incorporated earlier work. In about 1740 there were plans for completely rebuilding the castle to the designs of William Adam. But it was as a result of at least three phases of remodelling in the 19th century that the castle's architectural character was greatly modified. In the course of these works, the north-west tower and the courtyard walls were demolished and the underlying knoll was landscaped, sweeping away terracing and creating a new driveway up to the castle. Amongst the architects responsible for these changes were William McCandlish, in the 1840s, and Hugh Maclure in the 1860s.

The west and south ranges survive to full height. However, a great deal of the external detail has been obscured by the later harled finish, and it is only internally that much of the pre-19th century fabric, including four vaulted cellars, can be identified. The prominent detailing of the west range includes rope-moulded stringcourses that become hood mouldings as they extend around the windows. Within the south range is a great deal of 19th century work, albeit with extensive re-use of earlier stonework.

J Gifford 1996; A M T Maxwell-Irving 2000; D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887

Information from the HES Castle Conservation Register, 5 July 2022