Dalquharran Castle

Dalquharran Castle stands in South Ayrshire, near the village of Dailly. It is a large mansion designed by Robert Adam and finished around 1790. The estate once included an older castle, abandoned in the early 19th century. The new building overlooks the Water of Girvan and was lived in until the 1960s. After the roof was removed in 1967, the mansion became a ruin. The older castle lies about 300 metres away, closer to the river, and is also a ruin. The castle was commissioned by Thomas Kennedy of Dunure, whose sister was Robert Adam’s wife. Adam arranged the house symmetrically, with a central hall and spiral staircase lit from above. The four-storey building had bedchambers on two floors, a classical interior, and a basement for services. A round bastion on the south front held a drawing room below and a library above. The east wing contained a large oval dining room on the ground floor. To the north, Adam designed a stable range linked to the main house by screen walls. Later owners added wings in the 1880s to house a large family. The estate passed through different hands, including a timber merchant and a produce merchant. During the Second World War it housed an evacuated institution. Though plans for hotels and homes were approved, none were built. Today the estate includes medieval ruins, farmland, woodland and several derelict buildings.