Kerelaw Castle

Kerelaw Castle is a ruined castle on the Ayrshire coast near Stevenston. The remains stand close to the Stevenston Burn in a shallow glen, with the sea a short walk away. The site has been known by several names—Kerelaw, Kerila, Turnlaw—and once belonged to powerful local families. For centuries it served as a stronghold and later as a grand house before falling into disrepair. The surviving walls show traces of many building phases, from medieval times to later Gothic touches.

The castle’s story is tied to Scotland’s turbulent history. Lockharts held it in the 12th century, and the Cunninghames owned it when it was burned in 1488 during a feud with the Montgomeries. Later it passed to the Hamiltons, including an ancestor of the American statesman Alexander Hamilton. In the 18th century the family built Kerelaw House nearby and abandoned the old castle. Today only three walls remain, but they still carry carved coats of arms and Gothic windows once taken from Kilwinning Abbey.

Visitors see three standing walls and a fenced-off ruin on council land. A pedestrian bridge beside the castle has a hidden cave and ornate stonework. Nearby, a single wall marks the site of the old walled garden, now surrounded by modern houses. The glen below once had a cobbled ford and footbridges, though quarry work has erased much of the path. An information board explains the site’s layered past, while the sea breeze and quiet surroundings recall its days as a lordly home.