Cloncaird Castle
Coordinates: 55°20′04″N 4°35′25″W / 55.3345670°N 4.5902208°W
Cloncaird Castle is a privately owned. It is a 140-acre estate with castle near the small village of Kirkmichael, near Maybole, Ayrshire in Scotland. It is located next to the nearby Kelsie Burn.
The Castle was originally built during the 16th century, and is described as having been in the style of feudal mansions of that period, with huge square tower, narrow spiral staircase, and other indications of the time to which it belonged. Towards the close of the 16th century it was in the possession of Walter Mure, a scion of the Auchendrane family, and cousin of the unscrupulous Laird of Auchendrane who devised the 'Ayrshire Tragedy'. This Walter Mure of Cloncaird was the actual perpetrator of the murder of Sir Thomas Kennedy of Culzean, and was assisted in the execution of his dreadful crime by his boon companion, Kennedy of Drumurchy.[1]
The Castle came into the hands of Henry Ritchie Esq. of Craigton and Busbie early this century (19th) and he made extensive alterations upon it so as to fit it for his chief residence. In 1814 the front was entirely re-built and modernised, and it was thus made one of the finest mansions in the county. Mr Ritchie was the descendant of James Ritchie, 'merchand burgess' of Glasgow; whose name appears in the Commisary Register in 1674. His family was settled in Craigton Lanarkshire in 1746, and his father James Ritchie, acquired the estate of Busbie Ayrshire in 1763. Henry Ritchie was related to the family of the Marquess of Lothian through his mother, Catharine Kerr. He was born in 1777, succeeded to the estates at Busbie and Craigton in 1799, and purchased the property at Cloncaird shortly afterwards. As he died without issue in 1843, these estates fell to William Wallace Esq. his sisters son, and the representative of Wallace of Cairnhill. The Castle of Cloncaird is now occupied by the widow of Henry Ritchie, who is a daughter of James ferguson of Kilkerran.[1]
A notable piece of history can be seen above the main entrance where a family crest is dated to 1585.
In 1949 the mansion was used as a convalescent home named Dubs Memorial and today the current owners are Ephraim Belcher and his family, owner of Belcher Food Products in Prestwick.
The grounds contain the following points of interest:
- a Bridge
- a large pond
- an artificial weir with fountain
- Cloncaird Mains
- a Gardeners Lodge
- a walled Garden
- Laigh Lodge
- and a Stables.
References
This article incorporates text from The castles and mansions of Ayrshire illustrated in seventy views with historical and descriptive accounts, by A. H. Millar, a publication from 1885 now in the public domain in the United States.