Scotland · Restored
Kilmartin Castle
Kilmartin Castle is a 16th-century Z-plan tower house at Kilmartin in Argyll, Scotland, built in 1550 for the Rector John Carswell and later owned by Clan Campbell. The castle fell into ruin for about two centuries before being restored in the late 20th century and is now used as private accommodation and for small events.
Its prime
1550
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1550
What Kilmartin Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact three-storey Z-plan tower house of grey rubble masonry set low in a grassy glen. The main rectangular block is flanked by at least two corner towers, one clearly cylindrical with a conical slate roof; steep slate roofs and a prominent gabled end rise above small rectangular and slit windows. Thick stone walls, visible mortar joints and a large stone chimney punctuate the roofline. The castle sits beside a small outbuilding and fenced garden with rolling hills behind.
Its story
The story of Kilmartin Castle.
Kilmartin Castle was built in 1550 for John Carswell, Rector of Kilmartin, and later came into the ownership of Clan Campbell. It is a Z-plan tower house standing in Kilmartin Glen in Argyll, a historically significant landscape that is also home to Kilmartin Museum.
The castle fell into ruin for about two centuries before restoration in the late 20th century. Today the 16th-century tower serves as luxury self-catering accommodation, sleeping ten, and hosts a handful of small weddings each year.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1550.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Kilmartin Castle, including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Kilmartin Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1550, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Kilmartin Castle.
The families that held Kilmartin Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Owned by Clan Campbell after its first owner, Rector John Carswell of Kilmartin.
From the archive
Kilmartin Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
Fig. 615. — Kilmartin Castle. Plans of Ground Floor and First Floor.
1892 · MacGibbon & Ross, vol. 4 (1892)
Public domain
Fig. 615. — Kilmartin Castle. Plans of Ground Floor and First Floor.
1892 · MacGibbon & Ross, vol. 4 (1892)
Public domain
