Scotland · Partial ruin
Turnberry Castle
Turnberry Castle is a fragmentary coastal castle ruin in Kirkoswald parish, Ayrshire, Scotland, formerly the seat of the Earls of Carrick. It is associated with the childhood and early career of Robert the Bruce and was deliberately slighted in the early 14th century. The site is now partly occupied by a 19th-century lighthouse and bordered on the landward side by a golf course.
First raised
1873
Its prime
1286
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1286
What Turnberry Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact cluster of low stone remains sits on a rocky promontory with the sea on three sides and grassy links to the landward side. Only lower vaults, cellars and short lengths of masonry survive at the cliff edge; sockets and recessed openings hint at former gateways. Traces of a drawbridge and an old portcullis are visible in the ruins, and sea-level caves pierce the rock beneath the site. A 19th-century white lighthouse now occupies part of the footprint.
Its story
The story of Turnberry Castle.
The Countess Who Captured Her Husband
There is no authentic record of when or by whom Turnberry was built. It began as a stronghold of the Lords of Galloway and passed to the Earls of Carrick around the beginning of the 13th century, becoming their seat on a rocky point surrounded on three sides by the sea. By the late 13th century it belonged to Marjorie, the widowed Countess of Carrick, and medieval legend tells that she held the visiting knight Robert de Brus captive here until he agreed to marry her. The marriage of 1271 conveyed both castle and earldom to Robert, and their first son — also Robert — became Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. Whether Turnberry was his actual birthplace is unknown, but that he spent his boyhood in the castle is not in doubt.
The Secret Meeting of 1286 and the Fight of 1307
On 20 September 1286, several Scottish barons who supported the Bruce claim to the crown met secretly at Turnberry Castle; the future king was then only twelve years old. Two decades later, in the spring of 1307, Robert attempted to recover the castle from the English garrison occupying it. The attack was only partially successful, but it ultimately led to the withdrawal of the English soldiers — the beginning of the long road that ended in Robert's victory at Bannockburn.
Slighted on the King's Own Order, 1310
It was Robert the Bruce himself who ordered the slighting of Turnberry in 1310, to prevent his childhood home from falling into English hands again. The castle was nearly destroyed and does not appear to have ever been rebuilt: centuries of severe weather and marine erosion have since reduced it to little more than the lower vaults and cellars, with vestiges of a drawbridge and an old portcullis that may have served as a gate. The extent of rock the site takes in suggests a fortress of great size and strength, and caves leading out to the sea may once have served it as a harbour. Turnberry lighthouse was built on part of the castle's site in 1873, and the remains were designated a scheduled monument in 1995.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1286.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Turnberry Castle, including 1 interior: lower vaults and cellars. 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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Clans who held Turnberry Castle.
The families that held Turnberry Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Associated with Robert the Bruce's childhood and early career at the seat of the Earls of Carrick; by legend Marjorie held Robert de Brus captive here until he agreed to marry her.
