Caprington Castle

Caprington Castle stands in East Ayrshire, south of the River Irvine, about three kilometres south-west of Kilmarnock. It began as a 15th-century keep and was later joined to a castellated mansion. The Wallaces of Sundrum held the land from 1385, but the Cunninghams acquired it by marriage in 1400. The Cunninghams became baronets of Nova Scotia and kept the title until 1829. Around 1829 the castle was rebuilt as part of a refurbished mansion while parts of the original keep survive inside. The castle mixes medieval and 19th-century styles. The dining room walls still belong to the original keep. A four-storey centre tower with parapet and machicolations now forms the main front. Square-headed drip moulds run above the windows, and corner turrets are square with a porte-cochere below. The terrace on which the building stands has round corner bastions. Inside, the hall and staircase show plaster ceilings and Gothic decoration. Visitors see the listed building set on its terrace with views over the designed landscape. Drawings from before the modernisation show how the castle once looked. The grounds form part of Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes. Nearby Blacksyke Tower and Caprington Loch add to the historic setting.