Kyle Castle
Tower House (Medieval)
Site Name Kyle Castle
Classification Tower House (Medieval)
Canmore ID 44695
Site Number NS61NW 5
NGR NS 6474 1920
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/44695
- Council East Ayrshire
- Parish Auchinleck
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cumnock And Doon Valley
- Former County Ayrshire
NS61NW 5 6474 1920.
(NS 6474 1920) Kyle Castle (NR) (remains of)
OS 6" map (1970)
Very little remains of Kyle Castle, and there seems to be no trace of its history. It is situated on a tongue of land near the junction of the Gelt and Glenmore Waters.
NSA 1845 (J Chrystal): J Paterson 1863
There are only scant remains of Kyle Castle, a rectangular keep which has measured 14.0m x 7.0m externally. A fragment of wall, 6.1m long, 5.5m high and 1.8, thick, forms the N side of the keep, while the remaining walls are a mass of earth and stone. The wall is of ashlar masonry - typical construction of a 15th - 16th c keep. It is situated on a flat-topped spur which may have had a surrounding courtyard wall as vague mounds appear here and there on the edge. On the W extremity, there is a narrow 'covered way' which curved up to the keep; this may be a later construction.
Visited by OS (JLD) 30 November 1955
Kyle Castle: name verified. The remains are generally as described by OS (JLD). The level promontory area W of the castle was almost certainly utilised as a courtyard; no perimeter wall base is evident, but edge revetting stones occur along the N and S sides, and a lower terrace has been created by an artifical N-S scarp, 1.2 m high, at the W end the promontory. The turf-covered footings of two rectangular structures occur at NS 6473 1921 and NS 6468 1921, the latter, about 6 by 3.5 m; these are possibly late in origin.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (JRL) 21 November 1981
Observation (24 January 2022 - 26 January 2022)
NS 64782 19241 Archaeological mitigation was undertaken at Kyle Castle, Dalblair, following unauthorised works to the Scheduled Monument. Kyle Castle (SM 3311, Canmore ID: 44695) is located on a promontory at the confluence of the Glenmuir and Guelt waters. The castle now comprises the remains of the N side of a substantial masonry tower and a series of earthworks at the top of the promontory; a flat platform to the N overlooking the Glenmuir water contains rig and furrow earthworks of likely post-medieval date. The castle is thought to be of 15th-/16th-century date and was abandoned in the first half of the 18th century.
The section exposed during the quarrying of 2019 was cleaned and recorded. Rig and furrow was noticeable in section and a rubble drain or a soakaway was discovered. The presence of fragments of a horseshoe drain within the rubble fill indicate that the drain is posterior to the 18th century. Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Dumfries Estate LLP
Antoine Ruchonnet – Addyman Archaeology
(Source: DES Volume 23)
