Ardkinglas House, Old House

Ardkinglas was the seat of an important branch of the Campbell family, descended from Colin, son of Colin Campbell of Lochawe, who probably received the extensive estate, lying between Loch Fyne and Loch Long, at about thetime of his marriage in 1396 (en.1*). The old castle [NN11SE 2] is indicated on an estate-plan of 1790 showing James Playfair's proposed house and offices (see No.l49), and it was also described in the Statistical Account published two years later (en.2). Playfair's caption indicated 'the Castle to be left in part as a ruin, and will be Gardener's house and hovell for Cattle', but it had been demolished before Garnett's visit in 1798 (en.3).

As shown on Playfair's plan, the castle appears to have been situated about 150m S of the present Ardkinglas House, on a level triangular area at the junction of three estate-roads or in the field immediately to the NE. In 1790 it lay between two small streams, which converged l00m to the WNW, but that to the N is no longer visible. The building is shown as an enclosure, about 30m square, with circular towers at all but the Wangle, and a gatehouse of considerable projection at the centre of the SW wall. This corresponds well with the contemporary description of the castle as being 'composed of three separate towers, each of them fronting an area within. The space, between the towers, is defended by a strong wall, about 15 feet (4.6m) high. In the course of this wall is the great gate, which is defended by small round turrets in flank, with apertures, through which those who assailed the gate might be annoyed with arrows, or with small fire-arms. The gate is also defended by a small tower, immediately above it, called the gate tower. Around the area, and within the walls, are smaller buildings, for lodging servants, for holding arms, and for storehouses and cellars'. The writer adds, presumably on the basis of a datestone, that 'there is certain evidence of its having been repaired in the year 1586' but no carved fragments from the building are known to survive.

The same account states that 'the old residence of the family of Ardkinglass, of which the ruins can now scarcely be traced, was at a small distance from the present castle, but in a more commanding situation' [NN11SE 8]. It is possible that this is to be associated with a massive stone-lined well about 4msquare and 4m deep, on the summit of a glacial ridge 400mto the NNE (NN 177105) (en.4*), but no remains of a defensive character are now identifiable.

RCAHMS 1992, visited June 1988

The existing baronial mansion [NN11SE 21] standing in terraced gardens 75m from the SE shore of Loch Fyne is one of the outstanding works of Sir Robert Lorimer, having been built for Sir Andrew Noble between 1906 and 1908 (en.1). It thus falls outside the scope of this Inventory, but it stands in policies which were originally laid out round the castle (NN11SE 2) that continued to be occupied until the 1790s. Lorimer was the last of a series of distinguished architects who provided designs for the replacement of this castle and its successor, a large plain building of about 1795 which was destroyed by fire in 1831 (NN11SE 8).

The immediate precursor of the present house was a modest building of one-and-a-half storeys situated 200m to the S (NN11SE 27), which is said to have been converted from a stable or coach-house some time after the 1831 fire (en.2). Its NE front had a low central gable and seven bays of dormer-windows, which were continued along the side-walls, but only a much-altered fragment of the NW end of the building survives. The square court of offices 90m W of this building was rebuilt by Lorimer on the same site.

Roy's Map of about 1750 shows that the old castle was associated with a series of enclosures between the Allt an Fichead Sgillinne and the Kinglas Water, and a large block of woodland extending inland from Loch Fyne W of the former stream. This western plantation was considerably reduced in extent by the time of James Playfair's survey of 1791, but the mature silver firs admired by Cockburn in 1848 were probably planted soon after 1750 in the valley of the Kinglas Water, where there is a notable arboretum. Playfair proposed a walled garden in the field SE of the present house, but a garden of the same D-plan was built 150m ENE of the house site, probably in the early 19th century. It is enclosed by a rubble wall 3.1m high with sandstone coping and an arched NE gateway. Cockburn in 1848 referred to the grounds as being recently 'reformed', with an excellent flower-garden, and described the artificial lake or 'Caspian Sea', some 180m in length, which is situated 50m N of the house. An ornamental garden SW of the walled one, and those round the mansion, were formed during the present century (en.3*).

RCAHMS 1992, visited May 1989

[see RCAHMS 1992 No. 149 for demolished and unexecuted buildings]