Glengarnock Castle

Glengarnock Castle
Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, Scotland UK grid reference NS310573
The entrance to Glengarnock Castle
Glengarnock Castle
Coordinates	55°46′48″N 4°41′44″W / 55.77998°N 4.69567°W / 55.77998; -4.69567
Grid reference	grid reference NS310573
Type	Tower
Site information
Controlled by	Cunninghame clan
Open to the public	Private
Condition	Ruined
Site history
Built	15th century
Built by	Cunninghames
In use	Until early 18th century
Materials	Stone

Glengarnock Castle is one of the ancient ruined fortifications of Ayrshire. Its keep is located on a remote rocky promontory overlooking the River Garnock about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town of Kilbirnie in North Ayrshire, Scotland. There is no clear account of when this was erected or by whom, but it may have been built by the Cunningham (or Cunninghame) family or by the Riddels who preceded them. The Barony of Glengarnock is one of three feudal baronies which together form the parish of Kilbirnie in the district of Cunningham which lies in north Ayrshire. The River Garnock flows through the village of the same name 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the south, but the name Glen Garnock applies more specifically to the ravine at Glengarnock Castle.

The ruins were stabilized in 1841 by William Cochran Patrick of Ladyland, following a partial collapse in a storm of 1839. Dobie records that .."foundations, where undermined, have been secured; wasted portions of the walls taken down and substantially restored, the whole of which have been carefully pointed with mortar; while the interior has been cleared of the rubbish and soil accumulated during more than a hundred years of abandonment and degradation"; the structure still continues to deteriorate although without these repairs little would have survived.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the lands here were held for the King by the De Morville family, hereditary Great Constables of Scotland. A castle may have been built here by them; a convenient site in relation to the abbey they founded at Kilwinning. The Barony of Glengarnock then passed to the Riddels and the Cunninghames. Mary, Queen of Scots, visited in 1563. Sir James Cunningham built the Glengarnock Aisle in Kilbirnie Auld Kirk in 1597. The Cunninghames retained the castle until the early 17th century and by the 18th century it had been abandoned. The Honourable Patrick Lindsay of Kilbirnie Place purchased the castle and estate of Glengarnock in 1677 from Richard Cuninghame, the last of the Cuninghames of Garnock. In 1707 both baronies were united in the Barony of Kilbirnie, with Kilbirnie Place as the principal dwelling.