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Dalquharran Castle
Scotland Ayrshire region, you will be
completely familiar with Robert Adam as the designer of Culzean
castle. You will also know that Robert Adam designed many other
buildings in Scotland and Ayrshire. But have you heard of Dalquharran
Castle? Dalquharran Castle is also a Robert Adam design and was built
at around the same time that Culzean was undergoing its major
redevelopment. Both castles were owned by different parts of the
Kennedy family.
Dalquharran Castle is situated about 6 miles
northeast of Girvan near the little town of Dailly. There are two
castles; the old castle was a three floor high 15th century keep that
was converted into an L-plan by an extension. It is situated in a bend
on the north side of the River Girvan just opposite Dailly and is
hidden inside thick woodland. Captain Francis Grose who wrote the
Antiquities of Scotland made an engraving of the old castle just as it
was coming to the end of its active life in 1789. In his description
of the castle he mentions that it was considered to be "...by very far
the best house in all that country, surrounded with vast enclosures of
wood..." and that it is the property of Thomas Kennedy, of Dunure,
Esq. for whom Mr Adams is erecting a handsome house of the castellated
form in the adjacent grounds demesnes.” The castle was originally
owned by the Kennedys of Culzean but was later acquired by the
Kennedys of Girvan Mains, a more junior branch of the family. In the
late 1600s the estates of Girvan Mains, Dalquharran and the domain of
Dunure was purchased by Sir Thomas Kennedy of Kirkhill, Lord Provost
of Edinburgh. Around 1781 Thomas Kennedy offered Robert Adam the
commission for designing either a new castle from scratch or of
redeveloping the old castle in the same way he had redesigned Culzean
Castle 10 years earlier. In 1782 Robert Adam sketched a proposal for a
new mansion which was accepted by Thomas Kennedy and the design work
was finally finished in 1785.
 In the Ayrshire agricultural report of 1811
it states that "Dalquharran Castle, the seat of Thomas Kennedy of Dunure Esq., Built around 1790, situated on rising ground in the
Valley of Girvan is (so far as regards the external structure) a
stately and very elegant building, and when it shall be finished
within, the offices completed, and land addressed according to the
original design, it will be one of the handsomest gentlemen's seats in
the western parts of Scotland".
The finished facades of the castle look quite austere with their sharp
hard lines and provides an excellent example of Adam's castle style.
The quality of stonework is superb with a magnificent arch over the
main entrance doorway. On entering the building there is an octagonal
entrance hall followed by a magnificent cantilever spiral staircase.
The entire ground floor surface is made up of the vaulted ceilings
over the basement and were originally filled with ash from the
brickworks and lime then parquet floored. The rear arched doorway on
the ground floor looks out over a magnificent view and the old castle
below. Robert Adam died in 1792 before Dalquharran Castle was fully
completed.
In 1880 Francis Thomas Romilly Kennedy, the then the occupier of the
castle, commissioned additional wings to the original building.
Unfortunately, these e xtensions made a heavy financial burden and left
the family almost bankrupt.
In the latter part of the 1800s and early 1900s the ownership of the
castle went through a number of rapid changes including being leased
out as a hunting lodge. In 1935 the castle and the State was purchased
by timber merchants from Troon who proceeded to take advantage of the
abundance of timber on the estate. In 1936 the timber company leased
the castle to the Scottish Youth Hostel Association and provided
accommodation for a hundred persons. In 1939 the castle was
requisitioned for the war effort and occupied by the Langside School
for the deaf who had been evacuated from Glasgow. In November 1939 the
estate was sold to John Stewart who moved into the building at the end
of the Second World War after it had been vacated by the school for
the deaf.
 By 1968 the Stewarts had realised that the
castle was too large and too financially expensive for them to
maintain and had moved into the stable block. In the summer they held
an auction selling off many of the pieces of interest left in the
castle in an attempt to suppress pilferers who had been causing damage
to the vacated building. In addition the roof was removed to overcome
the problem of rating applied even after occupancy of the building had
ceased.
 All that is left now is the very fine stone shell; but this is still
in remarkably good condition. William Stewart, the son of John
Stewart, has now sold the estate and castle to a team of developers
who now have planning permission to convert the castle into a
top-class hotel and develop new golf courses on the estate. I have
heard that Jack Nicholas may be involved in the design of these
courses.
I have had a careful look at the proposed
plans and my personal view is that the proposed development is
extremely sensitive to the original Robert Adam structure and will
result in a very fine hotel and an excellent new future for the castle
as well as bringing new prosperity to the area. The plans show the
castle being restored to its original magnificence along with the
courtyard area and stable block. The main facilities of the hotel
including extensive luxury accommodation, swimming pool and everything
else you expect of such a hotel are carefully hidden away below the
level of the castle and courtyard to the left of the castle in the
area of the trees on the aerial photograph below. A grassed roof will
cover the new complex from the castle area, and access between the
buildings is via basement level connections.
It is anticipated that the development work
will start this spring or early summer. This will definitely be a
development to watch, and perhaps in a couple of years time you will
find yourself enjoying a luxury holiday with all mod-cons.
Alternatively, like me, you could just save up for a nice pot of tea
and a stroll around the grounds.
You can, of course, visit the old castle
ruins and the Kennedy graveyard by the river at any time.
We have a large number of photographs of
Dalquharran Castle at
www.dalquharran.co.uk
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