Scotland · Restored
Craufurdland Castle
Craufurdland Castle is a country house-style castle in East Ayrshire, Scotland, originating as a 16th-century tower house and later remodelled and extended through the 17th–19th centuries. The building is a crenellated mansion of ashlar sandstone with surviving tower elements and later wings; it remains a private, occupied house on an estate.
Its prime
1880
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1880
What Craufurdland Castle looked like in its prime.
A castellated sandstone mansion of rectangular massing with a crenellated parapet and a large Gothic arched multi-light window on the main façade; one end preserves a corbelled-out battlement from the original tower. The east wing reads as a two-storey block attached to the principal range. The castle sits above a gently curving paved drive with clipped lawns, shrubberies and belts of trees; early-spring daffodils and rhododendron line the approach.
Its story
The story of Craufurdland Castle.
The Crawfords of Craufurdland and Flodden, 1513
Craufurdland stands north of the Craufurdland Water, about 2.5 miles north-east of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The property belonged to the Crawfords from the 13th century, and John Crauford of Craufurdland was killed at the battle of Flodden in 1513. The tower house itself was built in the 16th century.
Archibald Crauford, Almoner to Mary, Queen of Scots, 1561–1567
Archibald Crauford of Craufordland, younger brother of the laird John Craufurd, was Parson of Eaglesham and a courtier who served Mary of Guise and Mary, Queen of Scots as an almoner. He visited the queen at Joinville in Haute-Marne on 17 April 1561, and had charge of her chapel goods and silver plate. In November 1567, after Mary was deposed, he delivered some of her silverware to Regent Moray and to the treasurer Robert Richardson.
The Howiesons and the Estate, 1668–2023
The castle was remodelled and extended in the 17th century, extended again in the 18th and 19th centuries, and was later remodelled as a crenellated mansion in Gothic style. The King's Room carries a fine plaster ceiling dated 1668, incorporating the arms of the Stewarts. It is said that an underground passage once connected Craufurdland to Dean Castle, some miles away. Ownership passed to the Howiesons in 1793.
The house was restored in the 1980s and is still occupied. It has been a category A listed building since 14 April 1971. Simon Houison Craufurd, 29th Laird of Craufurdland Castle, holds the role of Washer of the Sovereign's Hands in Scotland. Some of the land is farmed, and the family run a children's nursery, holiday accommodation and other enterprises from the estate. In 2023 the estate and family appeared on the Channel 4 television programme Millionaire Hoarders.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1880.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Craufurdland Castle, including 3 interiors: king's room with 1668 plaster ceiling, vaulted basement, interior of the original tower (altered). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Craufurdland Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Craufurdland Castle.
The families that held Craufurdland Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Howieson
Ownership passed to the Howiesons in 1793; the family still occupies and runs the estate.
Nearby
