KENMURE CASTLE 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏰🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

KENMURE CASTLE 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🚐🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Music - Cody Martin - Midnight Kenmure Castle is a ruined fortified house (incorporating parts of a 16th-/17th-century castle) on a partly natural rocky mound in The Glenkens, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of New Galloway in Kirkcudbrightshire (Dumfries and Galloway), southwest Scotland. It stands near the northern tip of Loch Ken and was once further protected by surrounding marshy ground. The site has been occupied since at least the early Middle Ages. It may have been a stronghold of the Lords of Galloway (rulers of a semi-independent kingdom until the 13th century). Local tradition suggests it as a possible birthplace of John Balliol (born c. 1249), later King of Scots (1292–1296), whose mother Dervorguilla was the daughter of the last independent Lord of Galloway—though other sites such as Buittle Castle are also proposed and evidence is not definitive. Ownership passed through the Douglas and Maxwell families before coming to the Gordon family of Lochinvar around 1297 (from Berwickshire). The Gordons made it their seat; they also held a castle on an island in nearby Lochinvar. Key historical events include - A visit by James IV in March 1508 (while on pilgrimage to Whithorn), during which he reportedly played “tables” (a form of backgammon). A stay by Mary, Queen of Scots in 1563; the castle was later damaged or destroyed by her opponents after the Battle of Langside in 1568. Burning by Cromwell’s forces in 1650 after the family supported Charles I. Elevation of Sir Robert Gordon to baronet in 1626 and his son Sir John to Viscount of Kenmure by Charles I in 1633. Involvement of William, 6th Viscount, in the 1715 Jacobite Rising; he was captured at Preston, tried for treason, and beheaded on Tower Hill in 1716, leading to forfeiture of the title and estates (later recovered by the family). The title was restored in 1824 to Captain John Gordon but has been dormant since 1847. The core of the surviving structure is largely 17th-century (possibly incorporating earlier work), originally a courtyard house with ranges on the west and south, high enclosing walls on the north and east, and corner towers. Distinctive features include rope-moulded string courses and gunloops. It fell into ruin (recorded as such by Francis Grose around 1790) but was extensively restored and remodelled in the 19th century (south range c. 1840; west range by Matthew Ellison Hadfield in 1879; further work in 1908), with the courtyard wall and northeast tower removed using gunpowder. It served as a residence into the 20th century, briefly as a hotel (c. 1940s–1950s), and was stripped of fittings, fixtures, and roof around 1958 (not destroyed by fire, contrary to some accounts). The ruins were bought in 1962, listed in 1971, and designated a Scheduled Monument in 1998. It is traditionally said to be haunted by the “Headless Piper of Kenmure” (linked in some accounts to a Jacobite piper). Actor Sam Heughan (Outlander) has spoken of living on the castle grounds during part of his childhood. The site is accessible (park near a metal gate off the A762) but is a private ruin with no facilities. The structure is unstable in places, so caution is advised.