Stanecastle

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Stanecastle was a medieval estate in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It nearest neighbours are Bourtreehill and Girdle Toll. Stanecastle is now part of the Irvine New Town project.

[edit] History of Stanecastle (will be expanded)

At its core, there may have been an older medieval nunnery or convent and evidence has been discovered (and long lost under a turnpike road) of a medieval chapel in Stanecastle. This was probably dedicated to St.Bridget. This small chapel, as was the norm, had its own graveyard and this too has been long buried underneath the road.

The early history of Stanecastle is obscure but it was once believed that the 'stane' prefix referred to older Roman structures. However, we now know that stone building in Scotland was not something restricted to Roman and Norman occupation and the people of Ayrshire are known to have worked with stone between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago.

Stanecastle has been the subject of a few sentences from John Galt (b.1779), a native of Irvine, in his Ringan Gilhaize (1823) novel.

In the middle-ages, Stanecastle gave way to the ever expanding Eglinton Empire and William Francis of Stane passed his estate on to the Earls of Eglinton in the 15th century.

[edit] Stanecastle Today

Visible today is the superb keep of the original estate. This had been altered with the addition of eight mock-gothic arched windows in the 18th century. The remaining section of the estate has been thoughtfully fenced off and protected. For many years, the modern gate was padlocked and this has fortunately given way to a more open policy. This author has noticed no remarkable change in condition. The keep has a well constructed modern roof, barely visible to the pedestrian, with chimney and windows. There is no access to this odd building and the interior is almost unpenetrable.

Opposite the older keep is the Stanecastle gate, a considerably younger structure but inkeeping with the overall design of the area. In the 20th century, this gateway, or rather its orientation, was altered. It once marked the southern entrance to the huge Eglinton Castle estate.

There is an inscribed stone set into the wall of the old keep of Stanecastle. The area is now well worth a visit. Set in a miniature woodland, with a carpet of Daffodils in the spring and crows nesting in the upper branches, this Estate and Castle are one of the many highlights in North Ayrshire.

A record exists for the rare Rusty-Back Fern growing on the walls of the castle in the early 1900's.