Dean Castle is a 14th century castle located in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland. It was the stronghold for the Boyd Family, who were lords of Kilmarnock for over 400 years, and is situated in a 200 acre site situated within the Dean Castle Country Park.
The Castle takes its name from The Dean or wooded valley, a common place name in Scotland. However, until about 1700 it was called Kilmarnock Castle. Owned originally by the Boyd family, it has strong historical connections with many people and events famous in Scottish history. Robert the Bruce who gave the Boyds these lands; James III of Scotland whose sister married a Boyd; the Covenanters, some of whom were imprisoned here; Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose rebellion was joined by the 4th Earl of Kilmarnock and Robert Burns who was encouraged to publish his poetry by the Earl of Glencairn who owned the Castle at that time.
History
Boyd Family ownership
The Boyd Family came into possession of the grounds of Dean Castle in 1316, when Sir Robert Boyd was rewarded the lands of Kilmarnock and West Kilbride by King Robert I for his services at the Battle of Bannockburn.
Castle layout
Keep
The Keep was built around 1350 by Sir Robert Boyd's son Sir Thomas Boyd. It was built mainly for defence, the walls are 2–3 metres thick, it has few windows, and the original entrance is high above ground level. There are no arrowslits in the walls of Dean Castle something which is very rare for a Scottish castle of this time period, all of the shooting was done from the battlements at the top. In its current form, the keep houses many artefacts belonging to the Boyd family and medieval times in general, as well as various collections of arms and armour.
Palace
The first section of palace was built in the mid 1300s by Sir Robert Boyd (1st Lord Boyd) and his son Sir Thomas Boyd. The lands having been given to Sir Robert Boyd for his loyal service in the Scottish Wars for Independence. In 1735 an accidental fire started in the kitchen of the palace, this fire then spread onto the thatched roof where it then spread onto the roof of the keep. The Castle was a complete ruin after this and had almost two centuries of neglect, although some of the buildings always remained in use. The resident of the castle William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock had financial problems and could not afford to repair the castle.
Rebuilding
The castle was sold by James Boyd in 1746 and the estate changed hands many times. When the 8th Lord Howard de Walden inherited the castle he began its restoration. He completed the keep in 1908 and completed the restoration of the palace in 1946.
The present Gatehouse was entirely built in 1935–36. It was never present in the original castle. However, it is carefully copied from real sixteenth-century buildings, including details like the windows with half-wooden shutters and half-leaded glass. The overall design and decorative but usable gun loops are copied from the gatehouse built at Tolquhon Castle, Aberdeenshire built in the 1580s. The wooden walkway around the wall guarding the palace was added in the restoration. The castle and gatehouse were designated as a Category A listed building in 1971.
Interior
Keep
The keep has four floors.
Ground floor
The ground floor housed the cellar which housed the original kitchen for the Great hall above. Also on the ground floor was the bottleneck dungeon. When the keep was originally built both the kitchen and dungeon could only be accessed from the first floor via a ladder, there were no doors leading outside.