Carrick Castle

Carrick Castle is a 14th-century tower house on the west shore of Loch Goil on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located between Cuilmuich and Carrick, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Lochgoilhead.

This article is about the castle. For the village, see Carrick Castle (village). For the district electoral area in Northern Ireland, see Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.

Carrick Castle
Carrick Castle being restored, 2019
Carrick Castle is located in Argyll and Bute
Carrick Castle
General information
TypeTower House
LocationCowal Peninsula, Argyll and Bute.
Town or cityCarrick Castle (village)
CountryScotland, United Kingdom
Coordinates56.108742°N 4.9054980°W / 56.108742; -4.9054980, National grid reference NS 19422 94469
Construction started14th Century
Height64ft
Technical details
MaterialStone
Floor count2

The castle stands on a rocky peninsula, and was formerly defended to landward by a ditch and drawbridge. The building is around 66 by 38 feet (20 by 12 m), and up to 64 feet (20 m) high with walls seven feet thick.[1] It consists of two floors above the central great hall and stands 64 feet high. There is a curiosity – a small chimney is built into a window recess. There is an appendage of a smaller 17th Century structure to the original rectangular tower house. The structure has been designated a scheduled monument and a Category A listed building by Historic Environment Scotland.[2][3]

Modern-day houses in the surrounding area take the name Carrick Castle.

History

The castle was probably built by the Campbells in the last decades of the fourteenth century,[4] at a point of time when the family was dominant in the area.[5]

It was used as a hunting lodge by James IV.[6][7][8][9] Mary, Queen of Scots visited in 1563.

The ruin of Carrick Castle around 1890, with pier attracting tourism
Carrick Castle in 2019, under restoration and re-roofed.

During Argyll's Rising in 1685, when Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, attempted to overthrow King James VII, captain Thomas Hamilton of HMS Kingfisher reported that the castle had been burnt and walls reduced sufficiently to make it useless to the Campbell forces. Legend has it that the ship bombarded the castle, badly damaging the keep, which lost its roof.[10][11]

The castle was intermittently occupied until it was sold to the Murrays, the Earls of Dunmore.

The keep was a ruin for many years but is now in private ownership and undergoing restoration.

Notes and references
  1. Groome, F.H. (1882–1885). "Carrick". Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Thomas C. Jack. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  2. Historic Environment Scotland. "Carrick Castle (SM2495)". Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  3. Historic Environment Scotland. "CARRICK CASTLE (Category A Listed Building) (LB11815)". Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  4. Argyll: An Inventory of the Monuments (1992) pp. 21, 226 § 116.
  5. Argyll: An Inventory of the Monuments (1992) p. 229 § 116.
  6. "Lochgoilhead Visitor Guide - Accommodation, Things To Do & More". www.visitscotland.com.
  7. Lomond, Loch; G83 8EG, The Trossachs National Park Authority Carrochan Carrochan Road Balloch. "Lochgoilhead | Respect Your Park". Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.
  8. The Rough Guide to Scotland. Rough Guides UK. April 2011. ISBN 9781405389365.
  9. Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. HarperCollins. 2000. ISBN 9780007103539.
  10. Ewart & Baker 1998.
  11. Clark 1921, p. 74: "[Thomas Hamilton] rendered James no small service in capturing, off the west coast of Scotland, some of the ships which the Earl of Argyle had equipped to aid Monmouth in his rising."
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