Auchenbreck Castle; (or Auchinbreck) is located on the

Cowal Cowal ( gd, Còmhghall) is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, in the west of Scotland, that extends into the Firth of Clyde. The northern part of the peninsula is covered by the Argyll Forest Park managed by Forestry and Land Scotland. The Arrochar ...

peninsula, in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Its remains are situated in

Kilmodan Kilmodan is a civil parish situated on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, in Scotland. It includes the valley of Glendaruel and surrounding areas, with Kilmodan Church located in the Clachan of Glendaruel. The alternative historical spellin ...

parish, near the mouth of

Glendaruel Glendaruel (Gaelic: ''Gleann Dà Ruadhail'') is a glen in the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The main settlement in Glendaruel is the Clachan of Glendaruel. Features The present Kilmodan Church was built in the Clachan of Glen ...

, north of

Tighnabruaich Tighnabruaich; (; gd, Taigh na Bruaich) is a village on the Cowal peninsula, on the western arm of the Kyles of Bute in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. In 2011 the population was 660. It is west of Glasgow and north of the Isle of Arran. Tighnabru ...

on the Cowal peninsula. Little remains of the castle, other than a flat rectangular platform, around , between Auchenbreck farmhouse and the Auchenbreck Burn. This is partially bounded by a

revetment A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water ...

wall up to high. The castle was held by the Campbells of Auchinbreck, a branch of the

Clan Campbell Clan Campbell ( gd, Na Caimbeulaich ) is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. The Clan Campbell lands are in Argyll and within their lands lies Ben Cruachan. The chief of the clan be ...

descended from Duncan, a younger son of

Duncan Campbell, 1st Lord Campbell Duncan Campbell, 1st Lord Campbell (Classical Gaelic ''Donnchadh mac Cailein'', and also called Donnchadh na-Adh ( en, Duncan the fortunate) of Loch Awe, (died 1453), was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He was an important figure in Scottish ...

. He was granted lands near

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well ...

in 1435, and further lands in Glassary. By the 16th century, the family were known as "of Auchinbreck". The castle appears on

Timothy Pont Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an a ...

's map of the late 16th century. Dugald Campbell of Auchenbreck was killed in a fire at the castle in 1641. Around 1703 the castle was purchased by

John Fullarton John Fullarton (c.1645 – 1727), of Greenhall, Argyll, was a Scottish clergyman and nonjurant Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh between 1720 and 1727. Origins Fullarton was the son of James McCloy, alias Fullarton, of Ballochindryan and Jean Stew ...

, former minister of Kilmodan, and later

Bishop of Edinburgh The Bishop of Edinburgh, or sometimes the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Edinburgh. Prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh was part of the Diocese of St Andrews, under the Archbishop of St Andrews ...

. Fullarton renamed the estate Greenhall, and was the last person to live in the castle. When the estate was sold in 1728, after Fullarton's death, it included a mansion which may have been built from the stones of the castle. The castle itself was in its current ruined state by 1870.

References

External links

*{{cite web , url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/40525/details/auchenbreck+castle/ , title=Auchenbreck Castle, Site Number NS08SW 1 , work= CANMORE , publisher=RCAHMS , accessdate=2009-09-14 Ruined castles in Argyll and Bute Kilmodan Glendaruel Clan Campbell seats Cowal