MacLellan Castle

Today's the day ........................ to reveal

For as long as I can remember, MacLellan's Castle in the middle of Kirkcudbright has been shrouded in scaffolding.  Despite the fact that it plays quite an important role in events happening in the town, you never really got to see it.  Until this week, that is - when they took the scaffolding down and the castle was revealed in all its glory.

MacLellan’s Castle was built by Thomas MacLellan (long-time Provost of Kirkcudbright) in the 1570s within the grounds of the former Franciscan Friary and using building materials from it.  Architecturally, it has some defensive features, for example the ground floor gun loops - but it was as much a grand town mansion for Kirkcudbright's most important family than anything more.  

It was an extraordinarily ambitious building project - so much so that Thomas MacLellan never finally paid all of his bills.  But he would have been able to show it off in 1587 when King James VI visited and presented him with a silver gun as a prize ‘to be shot for occasionally in order to accustom the lieges in the use of firearms’.  The gun can be seen in Kirkcudbright Museum. 

The MacLellan family lost its wealth during the Civil War period in the mid 1600s. The castle was abandoned by 1700, and its roof removed in 1744 - but it's still very nice to see what remains of it ......................