QUOTE
CULZEAN CASTLE.
Click to view attachment
THE picturesque coast-line south of Ayr, as well as the country lying behind that rocky rampart, is studded with memorials of the ancient and illustrious house whose ascendancy in feudal times over that region of Scotland is indicated in the old rhyme:
"' Twixt Wigton and the town of Ayr,
Portpatrick and the Cruives of Cree,
Nae man need think for to bide there
Unless he court Saint Kennedie." *
Dunure Castle, a massive ruin with a fishing hamlet nestling at its feet, was the original seat of these "Kings of Carrick." Cassillis House, on the banks of the Doon, was a later abode indicative of progress in refinement; though it is true that if the savage stronghold by the sea has its gruesome story about the roasting of the Commendator of Crossraguel Abbey by Earl Gilbert, the tragic incidents recorded in the ballad of Johnnie Faa are assigned by tradition to Cassillis House, and an Earl who, while assiduous in his attendance at the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, was unkindly as well as imprudently neglectful of his spouse. Both of these stories however, must be taken cum grano salis; the Commendator was no doubt roughly handled to make him disgorge a part of the church property in his care, but the roasting is questionable. As for the legend of the Countess of Cassillis and her gipsy lover, it has been distinctly disproved. But there can be no question that in the course of the nearly seven hundred years in which this family have dominated Carrick, it has produced many notable men. Sir James Kennedy married a daughter of Robert III. Gilbert, the third son of the first baron, and a grandson of the King's daughter, wrote The Praise of Age, and was held in high esteem as a poet by his distinguished contemporaries and friends, Dunbar and Lindsay. Gilbert, the second Earl of Cassillis, was a man of fine gifts; and it was his son Quintin, Abbot of Crossraguel, who held the famous three days' disputation with John Knox at Maybole. Gilbert, the third Earl, on the other hand, assisted in furthering the Reformation; and it was as his lordship's guest at Cassillis that George Buchanan wrote his deadly satire against the Franciscans. The sixth Earl was still more distinguished as a friend of Protestantism; it was his daughter who became the wife of Bishop Burnet.
Earl David, who built CuIzean Castle about 1777, had the merit of rearing a residence worthy of a family history like this. For situation there are few, if any, castles in the three kingdoms that can be said to surpass it. Seated on the verge of a great basaltic cliff, a hundred feet in height and almost perpendicular, overhanging the sea, it commands an extensive sweep of prospect, with a distance singularly diversified. In front lies the picturesque island of Arran, the gem of the Clyde, with the Holy Isle of St Molios guarding one of its nearest bays; to the right the view stretches to the very head of the firth, embracing the verdant isles of Cumbrae and Bute, and terminating in the mountains of Argyll; to the left the Atlantic opens between the Mull of Kintyre and the distant coast of Ireland; while the line of the horizon is intersected by the majestic Ailsa Craig, sitting like a sentinel in mid-ocean, from which the chief of the Kennedies derives his title as a British peer. When Dr Stoddart, a writer of taste familiar with the British Islands, visited the spot in the closing year of the last century, he declared it to be, beyond comparison, the noblest coast view he had ever beheld; adding that CuIzean Castle itself was "a suitable accompaniment to such a view."
The house is a modern imitation, by Robert Adam, of the Gothic style; it presents along the verge of a precipice a range of lofty castellated masses that harmonise most admirably with the rocky site, the outline of the building being well varied with round towers and angular projections, while subordinate masses are formed by the offices and other detached buildings. The high grounds are clothed with plantations, chiefly of fir, the tree that most befits such a scene; underneath the Castle the bold and massy rocks are penetrated by deep caverns, six in number, which used to be peopled by the popular imagination with supernatural beings, as is attested in the Halloween of Burns. On the landward side, and immediately below the Castle, are the gardens belonging to the old house of CuIzean, formed out of rock into three terraces; upon whose walls are planted a rich variety of shrubs and trees, some of which are seldom found growing in the open air. The policy extends to about 700 acres, and is interspersed with many fine old plantations. The original castle of CuIzean was built by Sir Thomas Kennedy, younger son of Gilbert, third Earl of Cassillis, who was murdered in 1602 at the instigation of Mure of Auchindrane. This tragic story is fully related in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, and it forms the subject of Sir Walter Scott's drama of Auchindrane; or, The Ayrshire Tragedy.
*This is the version quoted by Sir Walter Scott; but the traditional form of the lines current in the locality, and probably the authentic version, runs thus:
`Twixt Wigton and the toun o'Ayr,
And laigh doun by the Cruives o' Cree, Nae man shall get a lodging there
Unless he court the Kennedy."
Click to view attachment
THE picturesque coast-line south of Ayr, as well as the country lying behind that rocky rampart, is studded with memorials of the ancient and illustrious house whose ascendancy in feudal times over that region of Scotland is indicated in the old rhyme:
"' Twixt Wigton and the town of Ayr,
Portpatrick and the Cruives of Cree,
Nae man need think for to bide there
Unless he court Saint Kennedie." *
Dunure Castle, a massive ruin with a fishing hamlet nestling at its feet, was the original seat of these "Kings of Carrick." Cassillis House, on the banks of the Doon, was a later abode indicative of progress in refinement; though it is true that if the savage stronghold by the sea has its gruesome story about the roasting of the Commendator of Crossraguel Abbey by Earl Gilbert, the tragic incidents recorded in the ballad of Johnnie Faa are assigned by tradition to Cassillis House, and an Earl who, while assiduous in his attendance at the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, was unkindly as well as imprudently neglectful of his spouse. Both of these stories however, must be taken cum grano salis; the Commendator was no doubt roughly handled to make him disgorge a part of the church property in his care, but the roasting is questionable. As for the legend of the Countess of Cassillis and her gipsy lover, it has been distinctly disproved. But there can be no question that in the course of the nearly seven hundred years in which this family have dominated Carrick, it has produced many notable men. Sir James Kennedy married a daughter of Robert III. Gilbert, the third son of the first baron, and a grandson of the King's daughter, wrote The Praise of Age, and was held in high esteem as a poet by his distinguished contemporaries and friends, Dunbar and Lindsay. Gilbert, the second Earl of Cassillis, was a man of fine gifts; and it was his son Quintin, Abbot of Crossraguel, who held the famous three days' disputation with John Knox at Maybole. Gilbert, the third Earl, on the other hand, assisted in furthering the Reformation; and it was as his lordship's guest at Cassillis that George Buchanan wrote his deadly satire against the Franciscans. The sixth Earl was still more distinguished as a friend of Protestantism; it was his daughter who became the wife of Bishop Burnet.
Earl David, who built CuIzean Castle about 1777, had the merit of rearing a residence worthy of a family history like this. For situation there are few, if any, castles in the three kingdoms that can be said to surpass it. Seated on the verge of a great basaltic cliff, a hundred feet in height and almost perpendicular, overhanging the sea, it commands an extensive sweep of prospect, with a distance singularly diversified. In front lies the picturesque island of Arran, the gem of the Clyde, with the Holy Isle of St Molios guarding one of its nearest bays; to the right the view stretches to the very head of the firth, embracing the verdant isles of Cumbrae and Bute, and terminating in the mountains of Argyll; to the left the Atlantic opens between the Mull of Kintyre and the distant coast of Ireland; while the line of the horizon is intersected by the majestic Ailsa Craig, sitting like a sentinel in mid-ocean, from which the chief of the Kennedies derives his title as a British peer. When Dr Stoddart, a writer of taste familiar with the British Islands, visited the spot in the closing year of the last century, he declared it to be, beyond comparison, the noblest coast view he had ever beheld; adding that CuIzean Castle itself was "a suitable accompaniment to such a view."
The house is a modern imitation, by Robert Adam, of the Gothic style; it presents along the verge of a precipice a range of lofty castellated masses that harmonise most admirably with the rocky site, the outline of the building being well varied with round towers and angular projections, while subordinate masses are formed by the offices and other detached buildings. The high grounds are clothed with plantations, chiefly of fir, the tree that most befits such a scene; underneath the Castle the bold and massy rocks are penetrated by deep caverns, six in number, which used to be peopled by the popular imagination with supernatural beings, as is attested in the Halloween of Burns. On the landward side, and immediately below the Castle, are the gardens belonging to the old house of CuIzean, formed out of rock into three terraces; upon whose walls are planted a rich variety of shrubs and trees, some of which are seldom found growing in the open air. The policy extends to about 700 acres, and is interspersed with many fine old plantations. The original castle of CuIzean was built by Sir Thomas Kennedy, younger son of Gilbert, third Earl of Cassillis, who was murdered in 1602 at the instigation of Mure of Auchindrane. This tragic story is fully related in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, and it forms the subject of Sir Walter Scott's drama of Auchindrane; or, The Ayrshire Tragedy.
*This is the version quoted by Sir Walter Scott; but the traditional form of the lines current in the locality, and probably the authentic version, runs thus:
`Twixt Wigton and the toun o'Ayr,
And laigh doun by the Cruives o' Cree, Nae man shall get a lodging there
Unless he court the Kennedy."
Click to view attachment
Postcard of Culzean
Culzean Castle, pronounced Cull-ayne, is a magnificent castellated mansion of 1777-92 built for the 9th and 10th Earls of Cassillis by the noted Scottish architect, Robert Adam. It stands on the site of and incorporates much of the earlier 16thc castle known as 'Coif Castle', or 'Cove Castle' from the caves below, later Culleanwhich itself was built on the site of an earlier castle.
The Earls of Cassillis were Kennedy by name, self proclaimed 'King's of Carrick'. They claimed descent from the original Celtic Earls of that dominion, in common with Robert the Bruce, who was by inheritance from his mother, the Earl of Carrick himself.
The Kennedies were in possession of this corner of Carrick by the 12thc, although it was a cadet branch of the family who were initially in possession.
Part of the history of the place is recounted by Millar, above, however since his time, a penthouse flat was given for the duration of his life to General, later President Dwight G Eisenhower, for his services to Britain during WW2.
The surrounding estate has been taken over with the castle by the National Trust for Scotland, indeed it is their showpiece property, and both are open to the public.
The ghost of a piper apparently appears when a Kennedy of the family is about to marry, and at least two other ghosts, one a girl in a long dress. Numerous ‘spectral visitations’ were noted in 1972.
Click to view attachment
Culzean as painted by Daniell, 1815-22
A small selection of entries from Canmore;
QUOTE
A castle is thought to have stood at Culzean since the 12th century. The earlier castle was transformed in 1775, when the architect Robert Adam began substantial remodelling work for the 10th Earl of Cassilis. Adam, who was also responsible for the castle's interiors, home farm and stables, incorporated parts of the older structure into the main range of a grand mansion which made dramatic use of its cliff top location. The addition of the west wing in 1879 gave the castle its current form. It is now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public.
Information from RCAHMS (SC) 7 August 2007
An image of this site has been nominated as one of Scotland's favourite archive images. For more information about the project visit www.treasuredplaces.org.uk
Archaeology Notes
NS21SW 1.00 23265 10285
NS21SW 1.01 NS 23237 10020 Camellia House
NS21SW 1.02 NS 235 101 Road
NS21SW 1.03 NS 23 10 Trial Excavations
NS21SW 1.04 NS 23451 10314 Gasworks
NS21SW 1.05 Centred NS 2328 1029 Culzean Coves, M ain Cavern System
NS21SW 1.06 Centred NS 2337 1033 Culzean Coves, Stables Caves System
NS21SW 1.07 24135 10317 Laigh Whiteston Lodge
NS21SW 1.08 24143 10331 Hoolity Ha Brige
See also:
NS21SW 31 NS 2312 1026 Culzean Harbour
(NS 2326 1027 ) Culzean Castle (NAT)
(1777) on site of (NAT) Castle (NR)
(NS 2323 7029) Culzean Coves (NR)
OS 1:10000 map (1972)
(NS 2326 1027) Culzean Castle (NAT)
(NS 2340 1019) Sentry Rooms (NR) (In Ruins)
OS 6" map (1910)
From the 12th to the early 17th century, Culzean was one of a number of small castles of the Kennedy family. It occupied a strong position on top of cliffs, with a steep valley and escarpments defending the landward side. A series of caves in the rock beneath contained "two dainty spring wells". In the hands of a cadet branch before it became the seat of the head of the family in the mid-18th century, it remained a comparatively modest and typical Scots tower house. Its outline is known from an old drawing. From this and from the d escription of Sir William Brereton, who visited the house in 1635, it is safe to assume the usual arrangement of an L-shaped tower with vaulted service quarters on the ground floor, a single great hall occupying the whole of the first floor, and a cluster of small private apartments on the floors above.
In 1693, the castle is described as "flanked on the south with very pretty gardens and orchards, adorned with excellent tarrases". These last are the oldest surviving features, apart from the caves. The old castle was remodelled by Robert Adam for David, 10th Earl of Cassilis, starting in 1775. The S front was built up, incorporating some of the masonry of the old tower in the main block; wings were added to E and W. After some years, the drum tower on t he edge of the cliff was added, and the central well was filled in. Adam's work included the stable buildings, also the mock ruined arch and causeway which now form the main approach to the castle ("Sentry Rooms" on OS 6" 1910). In 1879, the castle took i ts final form with the addition of the W wing on the site of Adam's brewhouse.
R Prentice 1976
Culzean Castle is as described above. The fortified caves mentioned above can still be seen at NS 2327 1030, just above high water mark. They are in good condition but there is no longer a through passage to the castle (Glasgow Spelaeological Soc Newsletters, October and
December 1966).
Visited by OS (JLD) 3 December 1955 and (RD) 7 March 1967
The central range of Culzean Castle incorporates the re mains of the 16th century and earlier castle, and is not built on the site of it. The attached copy of a Robert Adam plan of 1785 (Portfolio of past architect and survey plans held by NTS, Culzean Castle) shows the original castle, measuring overall some 43ft by 26ft with walls much altered but retaining a thickness of about 6ft. It became the Eating Room, and is now the library, but perambulation confirmed that most of the original fabric, apart from the rebuilt S wall, must be intact to at least the pre sent first floor level, although it is entirely encased by Adam's later work. Before the major alterations and additons of the 18th century the castle had evidently beeen extended firstly to the N and then to the E and W. The assumed L-shape is not appare nt on the 1785 plan.
Visited by OS (JRL) 9 June 1977.
NS 233 103 Monitoring of services installation in the vicinity of Culzean Castle, the Carriage Circle, Clocktower Court and Gazebo Court revealed that the area from the castle to Clocktower Court h ad been cut down to clean whin bedrock as part of Robert Adam's remodelling of the complex in the late 18th century. The Gazebo Court had seen some deposition of fill, also part of Adam's works. No surviving remains of the pre-existing fortified complex w ere identified.
An architectural record was made of the gazebo at Gazebo Court in advance of building repair works. The feature was erected around 1780 by Robert Adam as part of his enhancement of the clifftop setting of his recreated Culzean Castle. Whil e appearing as a buttressed and battlemented clifftop wall tower from the beach below, the structure actually saw use as an abattoir, as a tethering ring, and a possible location of slaughter block, a well-drained flagstone floor and corbels to support a substantial carcass-hanging beam would confirm.
While roofless and derelict at the time of survey, the apsidal-ended structure still retained much internal wall plaster, dooks indicating dado boarding and fixing points for the roof structure.
A report wil l be lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
T Addyman 1998
NS 232 102 The original kitchens of Culzean Castle (NMRS NS20NW 1) were recorded during conservation works in March 1999. A number of significant features were recorded inclu ding the early flue arrangement relating to stewing stoves within the apsidal NE end of the kitchen. A historical assessment related the original construction to the first phase of Robert Adam's reconstruction of Culzean of around 1777, although there wer e significant design changes during building. Further modification occurred to the SW part of the kitchen (the scullery) during construction in c 1785. A receipt from Carron Company, dated 1790, may relate to the fitting out of the kitchen.
Sponsor: Natio nal Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman 2000
NS 231 102 Assessment and architectural recording was undertaken during conservation works in June 1999.
Dolphin House. A structure of three principal phases, the original as a laundry in the manner and material o f other Robert Adam-designed buildings at Culzean (c 1775-1800) and perhaps to a design by Adam himself, or perhaps by his clerk of works, Hugh Cairncross. The structure faced away from the beach (and the lordly bathing area), being lit on that side (NW) by a single Venetian window. The structure was originally symmetrical in general form - the central block of three bays being flanked by smaller wings of equal size. The original construction includes the incorporation of an earlier, bolection-moulded fir e surround within the room in the NE wing. The arrangement of the fenestration of the central block, however, was not symmetrical and the principal entrance was off-set. This was perhaps recovered from demolished pre-Adam parts of the castle (early/mid-18 th century). Additions were made to the NE flanking wing, being extended by 2m, and then abutted by a later 19th-century outbuilding. In the mid-20th century extensive modification of the structure occurred, with multiple windows inserted in the sea-facin g elevation (cementitious surrounds modelled to mimic the originals) and various plastic repairs to external dressings elsewhere. Internally the structure was wholly reordered with, particularly, the insertion of a staircase and a first floor within the c entral block.
Bath House. Externally arranged as a gothic folly formed of substantial blocks of local whin with rustic windows of sandstone. Internally a concrete floor and ceiling structure were removed during conservation works, revealing the bedding fo r a sandstone flag floor and an internal arrangement consisting of a major ashlar-lined bathing tank and a much smaller stone-lined (?plunge) tank. Evidence of the original roof structure was also recorded.
Records were also made of other associated struc tures:
Two cisterns. On the sloping ground above the Dolphin House to the S. Provided water for both the laundry and the bath house; the entrances of each were subsequently cut down.
Changing House. A circular structure built of fine ashlar with an ogival roof.
Sea water pool. Stone-lined pool below high water mark.
Building platform. On the rising ground some 50m to the E of the Dolphin House. Rubble-built retaining wall some 0.5m high on the downslope side, cut into the upslope side. No structural remai ns visible above.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman 2000
NS 234 104 Building recording was undertaken of the surviving elements of the original library. These included the S wall of the present dining room; ex situ fireplaces and over-man tel mirrors; glass-fronted library cabinets relocated in the present entrance vestibule, and one in storage from which was traced part of Adam's original colour scheme.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman 2001
Architecture Notes
NS21SW 1.00 23265 10285
NS21SW 1.01 23237 10020 Camellia House
NS21SW 1.02 235 101 Road
NS21SW 1.03 23 10 Trial Excavations
NS21SW 1.04 23451 10314 Gasworks
NS21SW 1.05 2328 1029 Culzean Coves, Main Cavern System
NS21SW 1.06 2337 1033 Culzean Coves, Stables Caves System
NS21SW 1.07 24135 10317 Laigh Whiteston Lodge
NS21SW 1.08 24143 10331 Hoolity Ha Brige
See also:
NS20NW 15 22260 09501 Pagoda
NS20NW 20 22087 09097 Ardlochan Lodge
NS20NW 21 22718 09832 Ice-h ouse
NS20NW 35 23126 09845 Walled Garden
NS20NW 38 24018 09580 Kennels
NS20NW 39 22464 09511 Swan Pond Cottage
NS20NW 40 22895 09234 Cat Gates
NS20NW 55 24478 09986 Glenside Lodge (now demolished)
NS20NW 81 22797 09995 Powder House
NS20NW 96 23097 09894 Gardener's Cottage
NS20NW 97 22466 09487 Aviary
NS20NW 98 22489 09654 Swan Pond
NMRS Reference: Bob Heath, Architect, has identified NMRS photograph AYD/43/82 as a copy of a drawing for the original hypocaust heating system at the Came lia House at Culzean c.1817. See correspondence with NMRS 24 February 1998 'Having just reglazed the building I can confirm that there is every evidence that this plan was adhered to.'
NMRS Printroom
W Schomberg Scott Photograph Collection
13 views of th r Fountain Court in winter
5 views of the Home Farm (10 prints - many duplicates)
2 elevations and plan for the Home Farm ('Farm Office') - all 3 duplicated.
18 detailed views of furniture and china cabinet displays, most of them duplicated.
Acc no 1997/3 9.
NMRS (Sch. Scott Plans)
Miscellaneous drawings
National Library of Scotland
Newhailes Album
MS 25673-8
A series of photograph albums compiled by the Countess of Cassilis and her sister, Lady Newhailes with their home at Ardwell, their marriages, view s of family houses, many exterior views of Culzean, the Earl as a barrister, their house at 1 Moray Place and much related ephemera c.1900-.
NMRS Printroom
A series of 14 vignettes of Scottish Country Houses, Churches and Castles. Mounted on modern leave s removed from an album. Purchased from Ewan Lamont, Candlemaker row, October 1987. Purchased on account of the view of Craigcrook. They are Us with Nd but must have been executed.1820-35. Mounted on sheets 13 1/2" x 9".
2 Vignettes of Culzean Castle.
One Insc: 'Colzean House, Wm White, Surgeon del' as published in 1802 in: 'An elegant Collection of Interesting Views in Scotland'. The other labelled: 'Colzean Castle Ayrshire'.
NMRS 'Culzean Castle, Stable Tower, Clock and Caves' by Eric J. Hosie, manuscr ipt notes. NMRS Manuscripts.
NMRS Correspondence and notes relating to discoveries (caves) at Culzean Castle. c.1966-1968. NMRS Manuscripts.
NMRS Inventory to Culzean Castle Drawings, Typescript. NMRS Library.
Architects:
Robert Adam 1777-79
James Donald son 1808 - design for coach-house
Robt. McLachlan 180( ) - plan of coach house
Robertson Buchanan - engineer - battery designs
Robert Lugar - Swan Cottage after 1808
James Gillespie Graham 1815 - designs for lodges
Richard Crichton 1815 -design for a lodg e
Alexander Naysmith - design for a lodge
John Thin 1796 - designs for lodges & gateways
Hugh Caincross - 1796 - design for a wooden bridge
NMRS: Survey by J & J Carrick, Ayr 1973 -plans, elevations & sections of Home farm
NMRS: Survey by Ian G. Lindsay & Partners -plans & elevations of the Swinton gate
NMRS: Copies of Soane Museum drawings, Vols 1, 14, 20, 23, 37 & 53 - photographs of plans, elevations, sections & details
NMRS: Survet by J and J Carrick, Atr 1973 - Plans elevations and sections of Home Farm.
NMRS: Survey by Ian G Lindsay and Partners - Plans elevations of the Swinton gate.
Museum of Western Art, Oxford (Sir Bruce Ingram Collection) Robert Adam - perspective view (Watercolour)
Sothebys 'Aitkin Sale' 30-31 July 1934 - design for ceiling of 1st drawing room, Copy in NMRS.
NMRS:
'Ayrshire, 1745-1950' - pp 63 and 260.
SMT Magazine, March, 1951.
NMRS: Plans: I G Linsday Collection, W/343.
W/158.
CULZEAN CASTLE DRAWINGS
A large collction of drawings for Culzean Castle inclu ding designs for a villa for James Kennedy by James Adam 1755; designs for Culzean Castle by Robert Adam 1777-1779 and 1787 with related designs for chimneypieces, glasses etc. design for a ruined bridge by Robert Adam 1787 and many designs for estate bui ldings by James Gillespie Graham 1815 and Robert Lugar etc.
Deposited by the National Trust for Scotland 1990
NMRS photographic survey 1973 Inventory 52
RIBA: Blackadder plans.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Culzean: a history and guidebook,
Edinburgh,
Stevenson, J B (1985 b)
Exploring Scotland's heritage: the Clyde estuary and Central Region,
Exploring Scotland's heritage series, Edinburgh, 53-4, no. 24,
Stevenson, J B (1995 )
Glasgow, Clydeside and Stirling,
Exploring Scotland's Heritage series, ed. by Anna Ritchie, Edinburgh, (no. 25), 70, 77-8, 2nd
The National Trust for Scotland ([c. 2000] )
Culzean: what not to miss a simple room by room guide to some to the most interesting objects to be seen during a tour of the castle,
Edinburgh,
Traveller's Guide (1814 )
'The traveller's guide through Scotland and its islands: illustrated by maps, views of remarkable buildings, &c.',
2v, Edinburgh, vol. 1, p.254, 6th
[McWilliam], [C] (post-1957 )
Culzean: a property of the National Trust for Scotland,
[Edinburgh],
anon (post-1937 )
Index to plans of farms, buildings etc. on Cassillis and Culzean estates,
Photocopy of typescript,
( )
Complement de Walter Scott, Guide Pictoresque du Voyageur en Ecosse 1838
62,
NS20NW 36 230 097
NS 230 097 An excavation and recording exercise was carried out by Kirkdale Archaeology over two weeks to ascertain the nature of a large cobbled depression previously located to the W of the walled gardens at Culzean Castle. Previous excavations and clearance work had revealed a dolerite cobble lining set in smooth clay, surrounded by a circular retaining wall. The depression is about 5m in internal diameter and 0.8m deep from ground level. To the NE, an area of sandstone paving repre sents an entrance. The feature is interpreted as probably being an ice-house of an unusual kind, or perhaps an ornamental dew-pond.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
Ewart and Stewart 1997
NS 230 097 Cobbled Depression (NMRS NS 20 NW 36). Previous ex cavations and clearance work (Ewart and Stewart 1997) had revealed a dolerite cobble lining set in smooth clay, surrounded by what may have been a circular retaining wall. To the NE, an area of sandstone paving may represent an entrance to the feature. Th e feature was interpreted as either being an 18th-century dew pond, or an ice house of some form. An initial late 18th-century date was postulated for the feature.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
G Ewart and A Dunn 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Ewart and Dunn, G and A (1998 b)
'Culzean Castle (Kirkoswald parish), excavation and survey',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1998, 87,
Ewart and Stewart, G and D (1997 e)
'Culzean Castle (Kirkoswald parish), ?ice-house',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1997, 74,
Moss, M (2002 )
The 'Magnificent Castle' of Culzean and the Kennedy family,
Edinburgh,
NS20SW 35 23126 09845
See also NS21SW 1.0 Culzean Castle
NS 231 098 Excavation in February 1999 and monitoring in March 2000 revealed that the former vine house had two principal phases:
Phase 1: c 1790, associated with Robert Adam's redevelopment of Culzean. Identified remains of the original vine house consist of the heated wall - containing a series of horizontal flues; the piers of the front wall of the vine house; parts of a brick flue system connected to the heated wall running into the interior of the glassed structure. Recovered architectural fragments relating to this include a number of stone bases for cast-iron supporting piers. The remains of a central structure, perhaps an orangery, were also identified. These consisted of an entrance and bulls-eye window above, within the heated wall, some foundation remains and a number of architectural fragments, including parts of a probable cornice and a corbel, suggesting that the structure had been partly built of stone.
Phase 2: mid-19th-century redesign of the vine house. This involved the removal of the original centrepiece; the extension of the range to the S; and, to maintain symmetry, the formation of a new central gabled glassed structure off-set from the position of its predecessor. The r edesigned glass house was sub-divided by glassed cross-walls into six units, the soil preparation varying within each according to the grape variety grown.
A detailed analysis was undertaken of a sample area of the vinery, consisting of a 5 x 7m transver se trench running from the heated wall to the dwarf wall defining the bed to the exterior of the glass house to the E. This revealed a most complex and sophisticated preparation consisting of: a carefully prepared base gently sloping down to the E; a solu m level of poured tar; and a complex system of stone-lined 'air drains' leading from heated iron water pipes running within the glass house to the exterior. Once outside, the air drains branched into a series of cross-drains and loose drystone capped by a level of stone slabs. The drains were vented externally to allow control of air flowing into the interior. Overlying soil preparation externally included a bed of charcoal (mussel elsewhere), humic soil 'sweetened' with crushed lime mortar and horse bone throughout. Localised dense concentrations of horse bone at the foot of the glass house piers corresponded to the planting point of the vine bole before being trained back into the interior of the glass house. (Elsewhere the vines appear to have been pla nted internally and the spaces between the piers blocked with brick). Internally a scattering of mussel underlay a build-up of silty soil within which was created an upper air duct formed of terracotta pipes.
Nothing remained of the upper structure of the glass house. The water pipes were heated by convection from semi-subterranean boilers within a range of lean-to outhouses on the W side of the heated wall, now gone. The base of a slate-lined water tank was also revealed.
The glass house was removed in c 1950 following a period of dereliction.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Addyman, T (2000 o)
'Walled garden vinery, Culzean Castle policies, South Ayrshire (Kirkoswald parish), 18th/19th- century vine house',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1, 2000, 83,
Information from RCAHMS (SC) 7 August 2007
An image of this site has been nominated as one of Scotland's favourite archive images. For more information about the project visit www.treasuredplaces.org.uk
Archaeology Notes
NS21SW 1.00 23265 10285
NS21SW 1.01 NS 23237 10020 Camellia House
NS21SW 1.02 NS 235 101 Road
NS21SW 1.03 NS 23 10 Trial Excavations
NS21SW 1.04 NS 23451 10314 Gasworks
NS21SW 1.05 Centred NS 2328 1029 Culzean Coves, M ain Cavern System
NS21SW 1.06 Centred NS 2337 1033 Culzean Coves, Stables Caves System
NS21SW 1.07 24135 10317 Laigh Whiteston Lodge
NS21SW 1.08 24143 10331 Hoolity Ha Brige
See also:
NS21SW 31 NS 2312 1026 Culzean Harbour
(NS 2326 1027 ) Culzean Castle (NAT)
(1777) on site of (NAT) Castle (NR)
(NS 2323 7029) Culzean Coves (NR)
OS 1:10000 map (1972)
(NS 2326 1027) Culzean Castle (NAT)
(NS 2340 1019) Sentry Rooms (NR) (In Ruins)
OS 6" map (1910)
From the 12th to the early 17th century, Culzean was one of a number of small castles of the Kennedy family. It occupied a strong position on top of cliffs, with a steep valley and escarpments defending the landward side. A series of caves in the rock beneath contained "two dainty spring wells". In the hands of a cadet branch before it became the seat of the head of the family in the mid-18th century, it remained a comparatively modest and typical Scots tower house. Its outline is known from an old drawing. From this and from the d escription of Sir William Brereton, who visited the house in 1635, it is safe to assume the usual arrangement of an L-shaped tower with vaulted service quarters on the ground floor, a single great hall occupying the whole of the first floor, and a cluster of small private apartments on the floors above.
In 1693, the castle is described as "flanked on the south with very pretty gardens and orchards, adorned with excellent tarrases". These last are the oldest surviving features, apart from the caves. The old castle was remodelled by Robert Adam for David, 10th Earl of Cassilis, starting in 1775. The S front was built up, incorporating some of the masonry of the old tower in the main block; wings were added to E and W. After some years, the drum tower on t he edge of the cliff was added, and the central well was filled in. Adam's work included the stable buildings, also the mock ruined arch and causeway which now form the main approach to the castle ("Sentry Rooms" on OS 6" 1910). In 1879, the castle took i ts final form with the addition of the W wing on the site of Adam's brewhouse.
R Prentice 1976
Culzean Castle is as described above. The fortified caves mentioned above can still be seen at NS 2327 1030, just above high water mark. They are in good condition but there is no longer a through passage to the castle (Glasgow Spelaeological Soc Newsletters, October and
December 1966).
Visited by OS (JLD) 3 December 1955 and (RD) 7 March 1967
The central range of Culzean Castle incorporates the re mains of the 16th century and earlier castle, and is not built on the site of it. The attached copy of a Robert Adam plan of 1785 (Portfolio of past architect and survey plans held by NTS, Culzean Castle) shows the original castle, measuring overall some 43ft by 26ft with walls much altered but retaining a thickness of about 6ft. It became the Eating Room, and is now the library, but perambulation confirmed that most of the original fabric, apart from the rebuilt S wall, must be intact to at least the pre sent first floor level, although it is entirely encased by Adam's later work. Before the major alterations and additons of the 18th century the castle had evidently beeen extended firstly to the N and then to the E and W. The assumed L-shape is not appare nt on the 1785 plan.
Visited by OS (JRL) 9 June 1977.
NS 233 103 Monitoring of services installation in the vicinity of Culzean Castle, the Carriage Circle, Clocktower Court and Gazebo Court revealed that the area from the castle to Clocktower Court h ad been cut down to clean whin bedrock as part of Robert Adam's remodelling of the complex in the late 18th century. The Gazebo Court had seen some deposition of fill, also part of Adam's works. No surviving remains of the pre-existing fortified complex w ere identified.
An architectural record was made of the gazebo at Gazebo Court in advance of building repair works. The feature was erected around 1780 by Robert Adam as part of his enhancement of the clifftop setting of his recreated Culzean Castle. Whil e appearing as a buttressed and battlemented clifftop wall tower from the beach below, the structure actually saw use as an abattoir, as a tethering ring, and a possible location of slaughter block, a well-drained flagstone floor and corbels to support a substantial carcass-hanging beam would confirm.
While roofless and derelict at the time of survey, the apsidal-ended structure still retained much internal wall plaster, dooks indicating dado boarding and fixing points for the roof structure.
A report wil l be lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
T Addyman 1998
NS 232 102 The original kitchens of Culzean Castle (NMRS NS20NW 1) were recorded during conservation works in March 1999. A number of significant features were recorded inclu ding the early flue arrangement relating to stewing stoves within the apsidal NE end of the kitchen. A historical assessment related the original construction to the first phase of Robert Adam's reconstruction of Culzean of around 1777, although there wer e significant design changes during building. Further modification occurred to the SW part of the kitchen (the scullery) during construction in c 1785. A receipt from Carron Company, dated 1790, may relate to the fitting out of the kitchen.
Sponsor: Natio nal Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman 2000
NS 231 102 Assessment and architectural recording was undertaken during conservation works in June 1999.
Dolphin House. A structure of three principal phases, the original as a laundry in the manner and material o f other Robert Adam-designed buildings at Culzean (c 1775-1800) and perhaps to a design by Adam himself, or perhaps by his clerk of works, Hugh Cairncross. The structure faced away from the beach (and the lordly bathing area), being lit on that side (NW) by a single Venetian window. The structure was originally symmetrical in general form - the central block of three bays being flanked by smaller wings of equal size. The original construction includes the incorporation of an earlier, bolection-moulded fir e surround within the room in the NE wing. The arrangement of the fenestration of the central block, however, was not symmetrical and the principal entrance was off-set. This was perhaps recovered from demolished pre-Adam parts of the castle (early/mid-18 th century). Additions were made to the NE flanking wing, being extended by 2m, and then abutted by a later 19th-century outbuilding. In the mid-20th century extensive modification of the structure occurred, with multiple windows inserted in the sea-facin g elevation (cementitious surrounds modelled to mimic the originals) and various plastic repairs to external dressings elsewhere. Internally the structure was wholly reordered with, particularly, the insertion of a staircase and a first floor within the c entral block.
Bath House. Externally arranged as a gothic folly formed of substantial blocks of local whin with rustic windows of sandstone. Internally a concrete floor and ceiling structure were removed during conservation works, revealing the bedding fo r a sandstone flag floor and an internal arrangement consisting of a major ashlar-lined bathing tank and a much smaller stone-lined (?plunge) tank. Evidence of the original roof structure was also recorded.
Records were also made of other associated struc tures:
Two cisterns. On the sloping ground above the Dolphin House to the S. Provided water for both the laundry and the bath house; the entrances of each were subsequently cut down.
Changing House. A circular structure built of fine ashlar with an ogival roof.
Sea water pool. Stone-lined pool below high water mark.
Building platform. On the rising ground some 50m to the E of the Dolphin House. Rubble-built retaining wall some 0.5m high on the downslope side, cut into the upslope side. No structural remai ns visible above.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman 2000
NS 234 104 Building recording was undertaken of the surviving elements of the original library. These included the S wall of the present dining room; ex situ fireplaces and over-man tel mirrors; glass-fronted library cabinets relocated in the present entrance vestibule, and one in storage from which was traced part of Adam's original colour scheme.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman 2001
Architecture Notes
NS21SW 1.00 23265 10285
NS21SW 1.01 23237 10020 Camellia House
NS21SW 1.02 235 101 Road
NS21SW 1.03 23 10 Trial Excavations
NS21SW 1.04 23451 10314 Gasworks
NS21SW 1.05 2328 1029 Culzean Coves, Main Cavern System
NS21SW 1.06 2337 1033 Culzean Coves, Stables Caves System
NS21SW 1.07 24135 10317 Laigh Whiteston Lodge
NS21SW 1.08 24143 10331 Hoolity Ha Brige
See also:
NS20NW 15 22260 09501 Pagoda
NS20NW 20 22087 09097 Ardlochan Lodge
NS20NW 21 22718 09832 Ice-h ouse
NS20NW 35 23126 09845 Walled Garden
NS20NW 38 24018 09580 Kennels
NS20NW 39 22464 09511 Swan Pond Cottage
NS20NW 40 22895 09234 Cat Gates
NS20NW 55 24478 09986 Glenside Lodge (now demolished)
NS20NW 81 22797 09995 Powder House
NS20NW 96 23097 09894 Gardener's Cottage
NS20NW 97 22466 09487 Aviary
NS20NW 98 22489 09654 Swan Pond
NMRS Reference: Bob Heath, Architect, has identified NMRS photograph AYD/43/82 as a copy of a drawing for the original hypocaust heating system at the Came lia House at Culzean c.1817. See correspondence with NMRS 24 February 1998 'Having just reglazed the building I can confirm that there is every evidence that this plan was adhered to.'
NMRS Printroom
W Schomberg Scott Photograph Collection
13 views of th r Fountain Court in winter
5 views of the Home Farm (10 prints - many duplicates)
2 elevations and plan for the Home Farm ('Farm Office') - all 3 duplicated.
18 detailed views of furniture and china cabinet displays, most of them duplicated.
Acc no 1997/3 9.
NMRS (Sch. Scott Plans)
Miscellaneous drawings
National Library of Scotland
Newhailes Album
MS 25673-8
A series of photograph albums compiled by the Countess of Cassilis and her sister, Lady Newhailes with their home at Ardwell, their marriages, view s of family houses, many exterior views of Culzean, the Earl as a barrister, their house at 1 Moray Place and much related ephemera c.1900-.
NMRS Printroom
A series of 14 vignettes of Scottish Country Houses, Churches and Castles. Mounted on modern leave s removed from an album. Purchased from Ewan Lamont, Candlemaker row, October 1987. Purchased on account of the view of Craigcrook. They are Us with Nd but must have been executed.1820-35. Mounted on sheets 13 1/2" x 9".
2 Vignettes of Culzean Castle.
One Insc: 'Colzean House, Wm White, Surgeon del' as published in 1802 in: 'An elegant Collection of Interesting Views in Scotland'. The other labelled: 'Colzean Castle Ayrshire'.
NMRS 'Culzean Castle, Stable Tower, Clock and Caves' by Eric J. Hosie, manuscr ipt notes. NMRS Manuscripts.
NMRS Correspondence and notes relating to discoveries (caves) at Culzean Castle. c.1966-1968. NMRS Manuscripts.
NMRS Inventory to Culzean Castle Drawings, Typescript. NMRS Library.
Architects:
Robert Adam 1777-79
James Donald son 1808 - design for coach-house
Robt. McLachlan 180( ) - plan of coach house
Robertson Buchanan - engineer - battery designs
Robert Lugar - Swan Cottage after 1808
James Gillespie Graham 1815 - designs for lodges
Richard Crichton 1815 -design for a lodg e
Alexander Naysmith - design for a lodge
John Thin 1796 - designs for lodges & gateways
Hugh Caincross - 1796 - design for a wooden bridge
NMRS: Survey by J & J Carrick, Ayr 1973 -plans, elevations & sections of Home farm
NMRS: Survey by Ian G. Lindsay & Partners -plans & elevations of the Swinton gate
NMRS: Copies of Soane Museum drawings, Vols 1, 14, 20, 23, 37 & 53 - photographs of plans, elevations, sections & details
NMRS: Survet by J and J Carrick, Atr 1973 - Plans elevations and sections of Home Farm.
NMRS: Survey by Ian G Lindsay and Partners - Plans elevations of the Swinton gate.
Museum of Western Art, Oxford (Sir Bruce Ingram Collection) Robert Adam - perspective view (Watercolour)
Sothebys 'Aitkin Sale' 30-31 July 1934 - design for ceiling of 1st drawing room, Copy in NMRS.
NMRS:
'Ayrshire, 1745-1950' - pp 63 and 260.
SMT Magazine, March, 1951.
NMRS: Plans: I G Linsday Collection, W/343.
W/158.
CULZEAN CASTLE DRAWINGS
A large collction of drawings for Culzean Castle inclu ding designs for a villa for James Kennedy by James Adam 1755; designs for Culzean Castle by Robert Adam 1777-1779 and 1787 with related designs for chimneypieces, glasses etc. design for a ruined bridge by Robert Adam 1787 and many designs for estate bui ldings by James Gillespie Graham 1815 and Robert Lugar etc.
Deposited by the National Trust for Scotland 1990
NMRS photographic survey 1973 Inventory 52
RIBA: Blackadder plans.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Addyman, T (2000 m)
'Old Kitchen, Culzean Castle, South Ayrshire (Kirkoswald parish), late 18th-century kitchen',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1, 2000, 83,
Addyman, T (2000 n)
'Dolphin House, Culzean Country Park, South Ayrshire (Kirkoswald parish), 18th-century laundry and bathing complex',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1, 2000, 83,
Addyman, T (2001 )
'Culzean Castle, Robert Adam Library, South Ayrshire (Maybole parish), building recording',
Discovery Excav Scot, 2, 2001, 89,
Aiton, W (1811 b)
General view of the agriculture of the county of Ayr with observations on the means of its improvement drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture, and internal improvements,
Glasgow, 110,
Bolton, A, T (1915 )
'Country Homes Old and New, Culzean Castle, Ayr"
Country Life, 1915, 4th September, 328-334,
Bremner, D (1973 )
'Culzean Country Park',
Brown, P H (ed.) (1891 )
Early travellers in Scotland,
Edinburgh, 156-7,
Camp, D (1992 )
List of the plans of Culzean by Robert Adam and other designers held at the National Monuments Record of Scotland,
Unpublished typescript,
Camp, D (1992 )
List of the plans of Culzean by Robert Adam and other designers held at the National Monuments Record of Scotland,
Typescript,
Christopher Wood Gallery (1984 )
The country house: an exhibition of views of country houses and their gardens, views of their interiors, and architects' plans and perspectives, 7th February - 24th February 1984,
London, 69,
Culzean Castle ([c. 1950] )
Culzean Castle: historical notes and guide,
Edinburgh,
Culzean Castle (2005 )
Culzean Castle,
Edinburgh,
Culzean Castle (1978 a)
Culzean Castle,
Edinburgh,
Culzean Castle (1978 b)
Culzean Castle: a concise guide to the house and gardens,
Edinburgh,
Cuthbertson, D C (1933 )
Carrick Days
Edinburgh, 48, 62,
Darling and Prentice, Sir J S and R ([1985] )
Culzean, the continuing challenge: the story of the restoration and presentation of Culzean Castle and Country Park since 1945,
[Edinburgh],
Davis, M C (1991 )
The castles and mansions of Ayrshire,
Ardrishaig, 71, 72,
Dickson, M (1975 )
'Culzean: beautiful but poor, it now has a secure future',
Architects J, 61, 24, (11 June 1975),
Dickson, M (1975 )
'Culzean Castle Countryside Park. Scotland's first Country Park',
Architects J, 1975, 11th June, 1214-1218,
Forman, S (1967 )
Scottish country houses and castles,
Glasgow,
Forman, S (1966 c)
'Culzean Castle',
Scot Fld, 1966, July, 24-27,
Forman, S (1966 c)
'Culzean Castle',
Scot Fld, 113, 763, 1966, July,
Forsyth, R O (1805-8 )
The beauties of Scotland: containing a clear and full account of the agriculture, commerce. mines and manufactures of the population, cities, towns, villages &c of each county,
5v, 2 sets, Edinburgh,
Grose, F (1789-91 )
The antiquities of Scotland,
2v, London, Vol.2, 209-10,
Hannon, T (1928 )
'Famous Scottish Houses',
77-80,
Harris, E (2001 )
The genius of Robert Adam: his interiors,
New Haven and London, 316-334,
Hussey, C (1945 )
'General Eisenhower's Scottish Home',
Country Life, 98, 2550, 1945, 30th November, 956-959,
Kirkdale Archaeology (1998 )
Culzean Castle and gardens: excavations 1996,
Edinburgh,
Learmont and Riddle, D and G (1988 )
Culzean Castle and Country Park,
Edinburgh,
Learmont and Riddle, D and G (1985 )
Culzean Castle and Country Park,
Edinburgh,
Lugar, R (1836 )
Plans and views of ornamental domestic buildings executed in the castellated and other styles,
London,
Macfarlane, W (1906-8 )
Geographical collections relating to Scotland,
Mitchell, A and Clark, J T, 3v, Edinburgh, Vol.2, 9, 21,
McKean, C (1990 )
'Scots style revival',
Roy Inst Brit Architect J, 1990, September 1990, 44,
Montgomery-Massingberd and Sykes, H and C S (1997 )
Great Houses of Scotland
London, 200-207,
National Trust for Scotland (c.1990 )
Mr Robert Adam and friends invite you to participate in the restoration of Culzean's landscape and buildings: Culzean appeal,
Edinburgh,
Paterson, J (1863-6 )
History of the counties of Ayr and Wigton,
3v in 5, Edinburgh, Vol.2, 294-5,
Prentice, R (1976 )
The National Trust for Scotland guide,
London, 64-6,
RCAHMS (1983 a)
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of North Carrick, Kyle and Carrick District, Strathclyde Region,
The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 17, Edinburgh, 24, No.163,
Rowan, A (1990 )
'The men who made Culzean',
Heritage Scot, 7, 1, (Spring 1990),
Scott, S (1975 )
Culzean Castle,
Edinburgh,
Scott, S (1972 )
Culzean guide,
Edinburgh,
Scott, S (1968 )
Culzean: a history and guidebook,
Edinburgh,
Stevenson, J B (1985 b)
Exploring Scotland's heritage: the Clyde estuary and Central Region,
Exploring Scotland's heritage series, Edinburgh, 53-4, no. 24,
Stevenson, J B (1995 )
Glasgow, Clydeside and Stirling,
Exploring Scotland's Heritage series, ed. by Anna Ritchie, Edinburgh, (no. 25), 70, 77-8, 2nd
The National Trust for Scotland ([c. 2000] )
Culzean: what not to miss a simple room by room guide to some to the most interesting objects to be seen during a tour of the castle,
Edinburgh,
Traveller's Guide (1814 )
'The traveller's guide through Scotland and its islands: illustrated by maps, views of remarkable buildings, &c.',
2v, Edinburgh, vol. 1, p.254, 6th
[McWilliam], [C] (post-1957 )
Culzean: a property of the National Trust for Scotland,
[Edinburgh],
anon (post-1937 )
Index to plans of farms, buildings etc. on Cassillis and Culzean estates,
Photocopy of typescript,
( )
Complement de Walter Scott, Guide Pictoresque du Voyageur en Ecosse 1838
62,
NS20NW 36 230 097
NS 230 097 An excavation and recording exercise was carried out by Kirkdale Archaeology over two weeks to ascertain the nature of a large cobbled depression previously located to the W of the walled gardens at Culzean Castle. Previous excavations and clearance work had revealed a dolerite cobble lining set in smooth clay, surrounded by a circular retaining wall. The depression is about 5m in internal diameter and 0.8m deep from ground level. To the NE, an area of sandstone paving repre sents an entrance. The feature is interpreted as probably being an ice-house of an unusual kind, or perhaps an ornamental dew-pond.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
Ewart and Stewart 1997
NS 230 097 Cobbled Depression (NMRS NS 20 NW 36). Previous ex cavations and clearance work (Ewart and Stewart 1997) had revealed a dolerite cobble lining set in smooth clay, surrounded by what may have been a circular retaining wall. To the NE, an area of sandstone paving may represent an entrance to the feature. Th e feature was interpreted as either being an 18th-century dew pond, or an ice house of some form. An initial late 18th-century date was postulated for the feature.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
G Ewart and A Dunn 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Ewart and Dunn, G and A (1998 b)
'Culzean Castle (Kirkoswald parish), excavation and survey',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1998, 87,
Ewart and Stewart, G and D (1997 e)
'Culzean Castle (Kirkoswald parish), ?ice-house',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1997, 74,
Moss, M (2002 )
The 'Magnificent Castle' of Culzean and the Kennedy family,
Edinburgh,
NS20SW 35 23126 09845
See also NS21SW 1.0 Culzean Castle
NS 231 098 Excavation in February 1999 and monitoring in March 2000 revealed that the former vine house had two principal phases:
Phase 1: c 1790, associated with Robert Adam's redevelopment of Culzean. Identified remains of the original vine house consist of the heated wall - containing a series of horizontal flues; the piers of the front wall of the vine house; parts of a brick flue system connected to the heated wall running into the interior of the glassed structure. Recovered architectural fragments relating to this include a number of stone bases for cast-iron supporting piers. The remains of a central structure, perhaps an orangery, were also identified. These consisted of an entrance and bulls-eye window above, within the heated wall, some foundation remains and a number of architectural fragments, including parts of a probable cornice and a corbel, suggesting that the structure had been partly built of stone.
Phase 2: mid-19th-century redesign of the vine house. This involved the removal of the original centrepiece; the extension of the range to the S; and, to maintain symmetry, the formation of a new central gabled glassed structure off-set from the position of its predecessor. The r edesigned glass house was sub-divided by glassed cross-walls into six units, the soil preparation varying within each according to the grape variety grown.
A detailed analysis was undertaken of a sample area of the vinery, consisting of a 5 x 7m transver se trench running from the heated wall to the dwarf wall defining the bed to the exterior of the glass house to the E. This revealed a most complex and sophisticated preparation consisting of: a carefully prepared base gently sloping down to the E; a solu m level of poured tar; and a complex system of stone-lined 'air drains' leading from heated iron water pipes running within the glass house to the exterior. Once outside, the air drains branched into a series of cross-drains and loose drystone capped by a level of stone slabs. The drains were vented externally to allow control of air flowing into the interior. Overlying soil preparation externally included a bed of charcoal (mussel elsewhere), humic soil 'sweetened' with crushed lime mortar and horse bone throughout. Localised dense concentrations of horse bone at the foot of the glass house piers corresponded to the planting point of the vine bole before being trained back into the interior of the glass house. (Elsewhere the vines appear to have been pla nted internally and the spaces between the piers blocked with brick). Internally a scattering of mussel underlay a build-up of silty soil within which was created an upper air duct formed of terracotta pipes.
Nothing remained of the upper structure of the glass house. The water pipes were heated by convection from semi-subterranean boilers within a range of lean-to outhouses on the W side of the heated wall, now gone. The base of a slate-lined water tank was also revealed.
The glass house was removed in c 1950 following a period of dereliction.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Addyman, T (2000 o)
'Walled garden vinery, Culzean Castle policies, South Ayrshire (Kirkoswald parish), 18th/19th- century vine house',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1, 2000, 83,
Links;
The Culzean Experience
The Eisenhower Appartment
NTS
The Ghosts
Room by Room from Camelot International
Images on-line from RCAHMS
..and more of the above.
Clan Kennedy
