Stranraer Castle, Chapel

The Castle of St John is probably the sole pre-Reformation remnant in the central area of the town figure 7 &figure 17: E. Although a small chapel which stood nearby gave its name to the settlement on the east side of the burn that runs through Stranraer to Loch Ryan (approximately along the line of the present South Strand Street and North Strand Street), it was the castle that would become the focal point for sixteenth-century settlement in both Chapel and Stranraer. Built around 1520 by the Adair of Kinhilt family, it was to function not only as a home but also as an administrative centre for the Adair territory; and its protective aura, as well as its needs for services and supplies, would have encouraged a clustering of settlement around it.

An L-shaped, fortified house, its original entrance in the north wall gives access to two aulted chambers. An entresol is entered from the wheel-stair, and above this, on the first floor, one large vaulted apartment has two chambers in the thickness of the west wall. Alterations have been made over the centuries, commencing in the seventeenth century when the building was heightened. It was to remain a family home, in the possession of the Adairs, followed by the Kennedys, and then by the Dalrymples of Stair. During the latter's ownership, the castle was used as a billet for Graham of Claverhouse during his offensive against Galloway Covenanters, an indication not only of the Covenanting sympathies of the Dalrymples, but also the relative standing and possible comfort of the castle. After this, major modifications were made. In the nineteenth century the castle's two upper floors became a gaol, with an open parapeted roof for an exercise area. The trappings of the gaol are still in evidence: chains, iron doors and prisoners' graffiti-a sharp reminder of the building's past. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the castle had become hemmed in by stone buildings and it functioned as a store room throughout much of the twentieth century. Clearance of surrounding buildings, rehabilitation of the fabric and conversion to a museum have brought the castle back to dominance over the surrounding modern settlement.

The Castle of St John is the only Scheduled Ancient Monument in Stranraer. Although further restoration work is unlikely in the foreseeable future, Scheduled Monument Consent (SMC) would be required before more refurbishment or any proposal involving ground disturbance could take place. Recent archaeological work in the two ground floor cellars and the main hall in advance of restoration in 1979, and again in 1989, revealed a number of earlier features. These included stone floors and drains as well as blocked up mural passages and a prison-pit. Beyond removing the original stone floors to reveal features pre-dating the construction of the castle, the potential for further archaeological discoveries is limited. However, more hidden architectural detail could be expected elsewhere in the building.

Information from ‘Historic Stranraer: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1995).

NX 0600 6080 A watching brief was carried out on 8 July 2010 during landscaping works in the vicinity of the Castle of St John, an early 16th-century tower-house. The work revealed that traces of the foundation trench survived in places along the S wall. It had, however, been heavily disturbed along its length by the insertion of later buried services. Some of these appeared to date back to the mid-19th century, when the structure was converted into the town jail.

Archive: RCAHMS. Report: Dumfries and Galloway Archaeology Service

Funder: Dumfries and Galloway Council

Louise Turner – Rathmell Archaeology Limited