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Sundrum Castle

Hotel (Period Unassigned), Tower House (Medieval)

Site Name Sundrum Castle

Classification Hotel (Period Unassigned), Tower House (Medieval)

Alternative Name(s) Sundrum Castle Hotel

Canmore ID 42764

Site Number NS42SW 2

NGR NS 41074 21256

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/42764

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Bluesky International Limited 2025. Public Sector Viewing Terms

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Digital Images

Interior.
View of billiard room.
Interior.
View of billiard room.View from SE.View from E.Detail of cut-back plinth.Detail of cut-back plinth.View of stable from NW.Interior.
View of stables.Interior.
Detail of blocked chimney piece.Sundrum Castle, NS42SW 2, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 1, RectoInterior.
View of main staircase at first floor level.Interior.
Detail of billiard room fireplace.Interior.
Detail of billiard room ceiling.View from SW.Interior.
Detail of billiard room ceiling.View of outbuildings from W.View of courtyard from W.View of outbuildings from SE.View of outbuildings from SE.Interior.
Detail of blocked window.Interior.
Detail of blocked fanlight.Interior.
Detail of newel stair.Interior.
View of mural stair.Interior.
Detail of ground floor hall fireplace.Interior.
View of first floor ballroom.Copy of historic photograph showing view from SE.Detail of voussoirs at first floor level.View of pavilion from SE.Interior.
View of former dairy.Interior.
Detail of stonework.Interior.
View of first floor hall, ballroom.View from S.View from SE.Interior.
Detail of newel stair.View of courtyard from W.View of pavilion from NE.Interior.
View of bell tower.Sundrum Castle, NS42SW 2, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 2, VersoSundrum Castle, NS42SW 2, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 1, RectoInterior.
View of ground floor hall.View of former dairy from NW.Interior.
View of former washroom.Interior.
View of stables.Interior.
View of attic.Sundrum Castle, NS42SW 2, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 2, RectoSundrum Castle, NS42SW 2, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 2, VersoInterior.
View of billiard room.View from SW.View from SE.Interior.
View of access to mural chamber.General view.View of courtyard from W.View of pavilion from SW.Interior.
View of pavilion.Interior.
View of attic.Interior.
Detail of stonework, showing blocked doorway.Digital copy of a design for the remodelling of the Eating Room at Sundrum Castle, Ayrshire.
Insc:'Section of the chimney end for the eating room at Sundrum'
s:'Jn Paterson Archt.'
Annotated on panel above chimneypiece:'1797'
Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund, 2011.Digital copy of a design for the remodelling of the Eating Room at Sundrum Castle, Ayrshire.
Insc:'Plan and Section of the Window Side of the eating room at Sundrum'
s:'Jn Paterson Archt.'
Annotated on panel above chimneypiece:'1797'
Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund, 2011.Sundrum Castle, NS42SW 2, Ordnance Survey index card, RectoSundrum Castle, NS42SW 2, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 1, RectoSundrum Castle, NS42SW 2, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 3, RectoView from S.View from SE.View of outbuildings from W.View of pavilion from NW.View of stable from SE.View of farmhouse from SW.View of bell tower from SW.View of bell tower from SW.View of stable from SW.View of stable from SW.Digital copy of a design for the remodelling of the Eating Room at Sundrum Castle, Ayrshire.
Insc:'Plan and Section of the Window Side of the eating room at Sundrum'
s:'Jn Paterson Archt.'
Annotated on panel above chimneypiece:'1797'
Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund, 2011.Interior.
Detail of mural chamber archway.View of bell tower and stable block from S.View of outbuildings from W.View of former dairy from SE.View of coach house.Interior.
Detail of blocked window.

Administrative Areas

  • Council South Ayrshire
  • Parish Coylton (South Ayrshire)
  • Former Region Strathclyde
  • Former District Kyle And Carrick
  • Former County Ayrshire

Archaeology Notes

NS42SW 2.00 41074 21256

NS42SW 2.01 NS 4085 2069 Sundrum Mains

(NS 4107 2125) Sundrum (NR)

OS 6" map (1966)

Most of the building now known as Sundrum Castle Hotel was built about 1792, incorporating an earlier tower, with walls 10ft thick, which the hotel brochure states is of 14th century date. The first historical name associated with it is Sir Duncan Wallace, mentioned in 1373.

NSA 1845; A H Millar 1885; (undated) Hotel Brochure.

Name confirmed as 'Sundrum Castle Hotel' (R J Dronsfield, manager) this relatively modern building incorporates a large, considerably restored, rectangular tower-house at its E end. The walls are extremely thick, and it bears evidence of having been a very early structure. The whole is in excellent condition and in use as a hotel.

Visited by OS (JLD) 13 May 1954

Sundrum Castle Hotel is as described. The latest brochure states that the tower dates back to 1160.

Visited by OS (MJF) 21 October 1980

Sundrum Castle, a listed building largely of late 18th-and-19th century date, stands amid wooded policies on the edge of an escarpment overlooking the Wat er of Coyle. The earliest portion of the fabric appears to be the S side of the main block (erected about 1792) which incorporated an originally freestanding tower-house of probable late 14th-century date. Although the tower has been much altered by its inclusion in the later house, sufficient remains to indicate its essential character.

It was oblong on plan (10.20m by 4.65m within walls 3m thick) and comprised at least three principal storeys with a vaulted basement and a high vault (at third floor level), possibly divided to provide an entresol. The principal entrance was probably at first-floor level, at the E end of the N wall, from where a straight stair descends to the basement. An arch-pointed doorway (mid-way up the lintelled stair passage) wrought with a broad chamfered arris, may have given access to an entresol or to a chamber created in the haunch of the ground floor vault. A turnpike stair (of which only a portion is visible), rising from first floor level, probably communicated ultimately with the wallhead. The first-floor hall was furnished with a fireplace in the W wall and mural chambers in the NW and SE angles (the latter entered off a window embrasure in the S wall); the doorway to the former is wrought with a broad chamfered arris. The recent removal of the harling from the front of the house has revealed a cut-back base-plinth at the foot of the S wall. In 1373 the barony of Sundrum was granted to Sir Duncan Wallace and Eleonora Bruce, Countess of Carrick, his wife. The estate subsequently passed to the Cathcarts and about 1762 to the Hamiltons.

Visited by RCAHMS (IMS) September 1985.

Architecture Notes

NMRS REFERENCE:

Architects: Balfour Abercrombie, (alterations and additions)

Built 1792

References

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