Craigie Castle

Craigie Castle stands in South Ayrshire, about six and a half kilometres southeast of Kilmarnock. It is a ruined fortification on a knoll between two marshes or lochans, once protected by ditches and a drawbridge. The earliest parts may date from the 12th or 13th century, with later 15th-century additions forming the vaulted hall. The Lyndesay or Lindsay clan originally built it, later passing to the Wallaces through marriage in the late 14th century. The castle’s rib-vaulted hall is one of the finest in Scotland, equal to any abbey or church of its time. Its design included a round-arched doorway, a late medieval fireplace, and traces of an earlier crenellated parapet. The ruins show two crumbling gables, portions of walls, and fragments of battlements. In the 19th century, underground vaulted chambers survived, partly filled with rubbish and home to foxes and bats. Visitors find the remains of a courtyard, a blocked entrance to the great hall, and the abutment of a former drawbridge. Nearby, an armorial plaque set in a farm wall bears the impaled arms of the Lindsays and Wallaces. The area was once part of a busy route from Irvine to Dumfries, and traces of rigs show it was intensively cultivated. A crannóg was visible southwest of the castle until the 19th century, when an oar was found after drainage.