Asknish Castle

This site lies in pasture on the E bank of the Abhainn Mhor, about 50m from the shore of Loch Gair and 180m SSE of Asknish House (No. 153). No remains of buildings or enclosures are identifiable either on the ground or in available air photographs, but the location appears to correspond with that of the house of 'Kenlochgair' on Roy's Map of about 1750. The site was pointed out in the 19th century as that of 'a castle or baronial residence which had been the mansion of the estate prior to the present one' (en.1).

The 'dwelling place of Lochger' was among property bequeathed by Dougall Campbell of Auchenbreck to his wife in 1583, and 'the house of Lochger', belonging to Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchenbreck, was plundered in 1685 following his participation in the 9th Earl of Argyll's rebellion (en.2). Whatever the original character of the building, it was probably greatly extended during the early 18th century, when it remained a principal residence of the Campbells of Auchenbreck (en.3). The statement of a later parish minister that it had been 'a mansion of great size' is confirmed by the Argyll window-tax assessment of 1748, which rated the property belonging to 'Sir James Campbell's children, Lochgare' at fifty-five windows (en.4*). Roy's Map shows'Kenlochgair' surrounded by wooded policies, and the sundial of 1685 standing about 90m to the NNE (No. 153) may mark the position of the gardens. The building was probably demolished shortly before the erection of Asknish House in the 1780s.

RCAHMS 1992, visited May 1983