Ardrossan Castle, Ayrshire: a preliminary account

Abstract

NS 232422. The 13th-century castle had a small courtyard entered through a gatehouse with vaulted cellars to one side. The gatehouse was rebuilt, then refloored and the doorway narrowed and eventually blocked to convert it into a tower-house in late 14th century. A new entrance may have been made on the other side of the castle, with keyhole gunports in the wall; 16th-century mouthed gunports were added. A grave-slab was re-used as a lintel to an underground passage leading out to a well. Since the castle is first recorded in 1484, its purpose is considered in terms of local history and the genealogy of the holders of Ardrossan. D F R