Kingencleugh Castle
| Kingencleugh Castle | |
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| Mauchline, East Ayrshire, Scotland UK grid reference NS30655083 |
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 Kingencleugh Castle
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| Coordinates | 55°30′06″N 4°22′15″W / 55.501784°N 4.3708°WCoordinates: 55°30′06″N 4°22′15″W / 55.501784°N 4.3708°W |
| Grid reference | NS 50351 25666 |
| Type | 'L' shaped Tower house |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Private |
| Open to the public |
No |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Site history | |
| Built | c 1620 |
| Built by | Campbells of Cessnock |
| Materials | Stone |
The remains of the old castle of Kingencleugh or Kingenclough lies close to east of the town of Mauchline, East Ayrshire, in the old Barony of Mauchline off the A76. The castle is Category B listed.
From the remains, this appears to have been built as a dwelling with defence as a secondary consideration. John Knox is said to have visited it in 1556. Kingencleugh was built as one of several castles built as border markers for the Campbell feus in the area. Kingencleugh latterly became part of the Ballochmyle estate. The present castle was built around 1620 to replace the older fortification that Knox would have known. The castle was abandoned once the new house was built. The Campbells held the property until the end of the 18th century.
Kingencleugh was the residence successively of Hugh and Robert Campbell, both ardent reformers. George Wishart and John Knox were entertained here and Knox also preached at this castle when he visited Mauchline in 1556. On his death bed it was to Robert Campbell that Knox said: "I rely on you becoming to them (his wife and children) as a husband and a father in my room."
Dobie records that John Knox was conducted by Lochhart of Bar and Campbell of Kineancleugh to Kyle, the ancient recaptacle of the Scottish Lollards, where there were a number of adherents to the reformed doctrine. He preached in the houses of Bar, Kineancleugh, Carnell, Ochiltree, and Gadgirth, and in the town of Ayr. In several of these places he also dispensed the Sacrament of Our Lord's Supper.
The remains lie above the Kingen Cleugh Glen and burn and are those of a four storey L-shaped residence of ashlar-ended rubble masonry. The remaining walls are 0.8m thick; the two lower floors have slit windows only. The north-west wall, forming the end of the western arm of the 'L', stands to its full height of around 7.0m, and is surmounted by a crow-stepped gable. The lower part of a corbelled turret remains in the re-entrant angle, in the western arm of which is the entrance. The main ground floor apartment appears to have been barrel-vaulted. The house is in a fairly defensible situation, overlooking ground sloping to the south. A 'Cleugh' is a narrow gorge or chasm with high rocky sides in Scots. Jerviston House is of a very similar design.
Kingencleugh overlooks the Lily or Kingen Cleugh Glen and the burn that runs into the nearby River Ayr. Local tradition states that a subterranean passage or ley tunnel runs between Mauchline Castle and Kingencleugh.
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