Stanecastle

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Stanecastle was a medieval barony and estate in North Ayrshire, Scotland, first mentioned in 1363^[1] and now part of the Irvine New Town project. Its nearest neighbours are Bourtreehill and Girdle Toll.

[edit] Roman origins?

The early history of Stanecastle is obscure but it was once believed that the 'stane' (stone) prefix referred to older Roman structures.^[1] However, it is now known that stone building in Scotland and Ayrshire was not restricted to the Roman and Norman periods, and need not suggest any such Roman origins.

Contents 1 Roman origins? 2 Medieval life 3 19th century 4 Stanecastle Today 5 References

[edit] Medieval life

The ancient name of the barony was the 'Barony of Stone'. At the core of the medieval estate may have been an older medieval nunnery or convent^[2] and evidence has been discovered (and long lost under a turnpike road) of a small medieval chapel, probably dedicated to St.Bridget and, as was the norm, had its own graveyard (also long buried underneath the road). In the 17th-century the twenty shilling lands of old extent called Brydskirk are recorded, but with no mention of a chapel.^[3]

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.

The Toll Road Act of 1774 gives details of The Road from the Cockpitt near Stone-Castle by Armsheugh, ....^[4] Showing that, not unusually, a Cock Pit existed here at one time.

[edit] 19th century

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

Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.

[edit] Stanecastle Today

Visible today is the superb keep of the original estate, into whose wall is set an inscribed stone. This keep was altered with the addition of eight mock-Gothic arched windows in the 18th century, and has a modern roof with chimney and windows.

Opposite the 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, now the Eglinton Country Park.

The remaining section of the estate has been fenced off and protected. For many years, the modern gate was padlocked and this has given way to a more open policy.

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

[edit] References