Scotland · Partial ruin
Loch Doon Castle
Loch Doon Castle was a medieval island castle on an island within Loch Doon in Ayrshire, Scotland. Built from the late 13th century, it had a distinctive polygonal curtain wall; the original fabric was later dismantled and some masonry was rebuilt on the loch shore in the 20th century. The site and the relocated remains are scheduled monuments.
Its prime
1335
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1335
What Loch Doon Castle looked like in its prime.
An eleven-sided polygonal stone curtain wall surrounding a small island, built of grey-brown masonry with irregular coursing and larger stones at the polygonal angles; no tall central keep is visible from the exterior silhouette. In its prime the curtain wall rose to full medieval height, forming a continuous closed ring with a prominent arched entrance set into one face. The castle sits on a low island within the loch, with water all around and rolling moorland and wooded hills beyond.
Its story
The story of Loch Doon Castle.
Loch Doon Castle stood on an island within Loch Doon in Ayrshire, a castle of the late 13th century with a distinctive polygonal curtain wall. The site was in the hands of the Earls of Carrick in the 12th century, and from 1206 the Corrie family were its hereditary keepers, 57 years later Sir Robert Corrie's marriage to Lady Susanna Carlisle greatly added to their possessions in Dumfriesshire. During the Wars of Independence its governor, Sir Gilbert de Carrick, surrendered it to the English.
In the 14th century the castle passed into the hands of the Kennedy family, from whom it was twice wrested: taken by William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas after a siege in 1446, then, having been returned to the Kennedys, seized again by William Crauford of Lefnoris in 1511. In the 16th century King James V destroyed it, as part of a general policy of reducing the power of the barons of Galloway.
The original fabric was later dismantled, and in the 20th century some of the masonry was rebuilt on the loch shore. Both the original island site and the relocated remains are scheduled monuments.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1335.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Loch Doon Castle, including 1 interior: inner courtyard. 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 Loch Doon Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Loch Doon Castle.
The families that held Loch Doon Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Carrick
In the hands of the Earls of Carrick in the 12th century; Sir Gilbert de Carrick was governor during the Wars of Independence.
Corrie
Hereditary keepers of Loch Doon Castle from 1206.
In Kennedy hands from the 14th century; twice taken from them, in 1446 and 1511.
From the archive
Loch Doon 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. 51.—Loch Doon Castle. Plans.
1889 · MacGibbon & Ross, vol. 3 (1889)
Public domain
UPPER PART of SOUTH SIDE of CASTLE (label within drawing); Fig. 51.—Loch Doon Castle. Plans. (main caption)
1889 · MacGibbon & Ross, vol. 3 (1889)
Public domain
