MacLellan's Castle

Today's the day .................... for a town house

This is MacLellan's Castle in the middle of Kirkcudbright, photographed at the end of the day as the sun slowly sank in the west.

It 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 ......................