Culzean Castle
I regularly have those wow moments when visiting historical sites, and Culzean Castle is one of the most memorable. When you walk through the Ruined Arch and onto the Viaduct, after having caught a small glimpse of the building and then see the castle properly for the first time, it truly is an experience. According to the guide book the earliest references to a tower house on this site date back to the 1400’s, with recorded history dating properly from 1569, and then building work to enlarge the existing structure from around the 1590’s. The Kennedy family owned the estate and by the 1770’s work really got underway to transform what already existed into the statement it is today, complete with an impressive pleasure garden. Robert Adam, one of the greatest architects and designers of his age, worked on the property, producing new designs for the castle, playing a major role in transforming it into what we see today. Sadly he died in 1792 and didn’t see it completed.
The castle is positioned on a rocky promontory, with magnificent views overlooking the Firth of Clyde. This is not a ruin. Inside it is fully furnished and well worth taking a tour to see the intricate design and decoration of Adam’s contribution to the interior. Highlights for me included the library, the round drawing room and the oval staircase. Also worth seeing is the Walled Garden with its kitchen and pleasure gardens which were set out between 1775 and 1786.
In 1945 there was a meeting with the Kennedy family and the National Trust for Scotland and an agreement made to hand over the castle to the trust to maintain it. What I hadn’t realised was that as part of the negotiation, it was agreed to convert the top floor into a flat for the use of General Eisenhower as a gesture for the support of America during the Second World War. There is still the Stars and Stripes on display there.
In 1969, the grounds of Culzean became Scotland’s first Country Park, with 600 acres of woodland and three miles of coastline. With the wooded walks and the home farm to visit, it’s a great place to spend a day out. It’s a far cry from the darker side of history that surrounds this area. It was notorious for smuggling, with its proximity to the Isle of Man where goods could be imported legally and then in the dead of night smuggled over into Scotland, avoiding higher duties. The guide books notes that the castle owners were well aware and profited from this activity until the 1760’s when heighted vigilance from Revenue Officers put a stop to them. I was intrigued to see that the guide book includes a reproduction of the painting by Alexander Nasmyth entitled Culzean by Moonlight which features smugglers. I was aware of the artist as he painted what is probably the best known contemporary portrait of Robert Burns which is on permanent display in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.
The Fiction Factory 