Culzean Castle ( , see

yogh The letter yogh (ȝogh) ( ; Scots: ; Middle English: ) was used in Middle English and Older Scots, representing ''y'' () and various velar phonemes. It was derived from the Insular form of the letter ''g''. In Middle English writing, tailed z ...

; sco, Cullain) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole,

Carrick Carrick is an Anglicised version of ''creag/carraig'', Gaelic for "rock", and may refer to: People *Carrick (surname) * Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick (died 1250), Scottish Mormaer and first Earl of Carrick * Marjorie of Carrick (1256–1292), ...

, in

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...

, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the

Marquess of Ailsa Marquess of Ailsa, of the Isle of Ailsa in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 10 September 1831 for Archibald Kennedy, 12th Earl of Cassilis. The title Earl of Cassilis (pronounced "Cassels") ...

, the chief of

Clan Kennedy Clan Kennedy is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Publishe ...

, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The clifftop castle lies within the Culzean Castle Country Park and is opened to the public. From 1972 until 2015, an illustration of the castle was featured on the reverse side of five pound notes issued by the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...

. As of 2021, the castle was available for rent.

History

Culzean Castle was constructed as an L-plan castle by order of the 10th Earl of Cassilis. He instructed the architect Robert Adam to rebuild a previous, but more basic, structure into a fine

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

to be the seat of his earldom. The castle was built in stages between 1777 and 1792. It incorporates a large drum tower with a circular saloon inside (which overlooks the sea), a grand oval staircase and a suite of well-appointed apartments. The castle was the venue, on 14 November 1817, when the 1st Marquess of Ailsa's daughter,

Margaret Radclyffe Livingstone Eyre Margaret Radclyffe Livingstone Eyre née Lady Margaret Kennedy, later (and mistakenly) called the Countess of Newburgh (6 June 1800 – 3 September 1889) was a British philanthropist. Said to be an "archetype of the nineteenth-century charitable ...

, married Thomas, Viscount Kynnaird. Margaret would become a noted philanthropist. In 1945, the Kennedy family gave the castle and its grounds to the National Trust for Scotland (thus avoiding

inheritance tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

). In doing so, they stipulated that the apartment at the top of the castle be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War. The General first visited Culzean Castle in 1946 and stayed there four times, including once while President of the United States. The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry, a British Yeomanry

cavalry regiment Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating a ...

, was formed by the

Earl of Cassillis Marquess of Ailsa, of the Isle of Ailsa in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 10 September 1831 for Archibald Kennedy, 12th Earl of Cassilis. The title Earl of Cassilis (pronounced "Cassels") ...

at Culzean Castle in about 1794. On 24 June 1961, the regiment returned to the castle to be presented with its first guidon by General Sir Horatius Murray,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

, CB, DSO. The castle re-opened in April 2011 after a refurbishment funded by a gift in the will of American millionaire William Lindsay to the National Trust for Scotland. Lindsay, who had never visited Scotland, requested that a significant portion of his $4 million go towards Culzean. Lindsay was reportedly interested in Eisenhower's holidays at the castle. Culzean Castle received 333,965 visitors in 2019.

Features

The armoury contains a propeller from a plane flown by Leefe Robinson when he shot down a German airship north of London in 1916. To the north of the castle is a bay containing the ''Gas House'', which provided town gas for the castle up until 1940. This group of buildings consists of the gas manager's house (now containing an exhibition on William Murdoch), the Retort House and the remains of the

gasometer A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressu ...

. There are sea caves beneath the castle which are currently not open generally, but are open for tours throughout the summer. The castle grounds include a walled garden, which is built on the site of the home of a former slave owned by the Kennedy family,

Scipio Kennedy Scipio Kennedy (–1774) was a slave who was taken as a child from Guinea in West Africa. After being purchased at the age of five or six by Captain Andrew Douglas of Mains, he worked as a slave under his daughter, Jean, wife of Sir John ...

Ghosts

The castle is reputed to be home to at least seven ghosts, including a piper and a servant girl.

Film and television appearances

*Culzean Castle is used as the castle of Lord Summerisle (played by

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

) in the 1973

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

'' The Wicker Man''. The scenes here were filmed between October and November 1972.Culzean Castle, Ayrshire & Arran, WhichCastle.com
/ref> *Culzean Castle featured in the 1997 PBS documentary series ''Castles of Scotland''. *The '' Most Haunted'' team led by Yvette Fielding,

Karl Beattie Karl Beattie is an English television director, producer and cameraman. Beattie and wife Yvette Fielding co-own and run Antix Productions. Career Karl Beattie's documented life has references to him teaching martial arts within the US. In 2002, ...

and medium Derek Acorah explored Culzean Castle's paranormal stories and reported sightings of ghosts for an episode of the first series, broadcast on Living TV in 2002. *The BBC TV '' Coast'' programme visited in series 2 episode 3 first shown in November 2009. *Culzean Castle appeared on the programme ''

The Little Couple ''The Little Couple'' is an American reality television series on TLC that debuted May 26, 2009. The series features Bill Klein, a businessman, and Dr. Jennifer Arnold a neonatologist, who both have skeletal dysplasia. Arnold is 96.5 cm (3'2" ...

'' from

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an As ...

, where the family visited the castle on the Series 9 pilot episode in 2016. *It was the location for two episodes of BBC One’s '' Antiques Roadshow'' filmed in 2020 and transmitted in February and April 2021.

Gallery

References

External links

Culzean Castle – visitor information
at the NTS website.

* ttp://digital.nls.uk/74582316 Engraving of Cullean castleby James Fittler in the digitised copy o
Scotia Depicta, or the antiquities, castles, public buildings, noblemen and gentlemen's seats, cities, towns and picturesque scenery of Scotland
1804 at

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

Video footage of the Culzean Coal Gas WorksVideo footage of the Culzean caves
{{Coord, 55.3544, -4.7895, display=title Castles in South Ayrshire Category A listed buildings in South Ayrshire Listed castles in Scotland Reportedly haunted locations in Scotland Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Robert Adam buildings National Trust for Scotland properties Gardens in South Ayrshire Historic house museums in South Ayrshire Country houses in South Ayrshire Clan Kennedy Firth of Clyde