Culzean Castle
3rd July 2022
About one and a half hours drive south from Giffnock is Culzean Castle, pronounced as "Colaine Castle"! We did ask the guides about the pronunciation and they were uncertain why/when the name changed. This castle was the former home of the Marquess of Aisle, the Chief of Clan Kennedy, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. And what a treasure it is! The rooms inside are fabulous, and while they do not currently run guided tours, the guides in the rooms are exceptionally well informed and love answering questions!
There have been castles on this site dating back to the 10th century. It is perched on the cliffs looking over the Firth of Clyde, and the version we see today was designed by Robert Adams in the late 18th century. The original owners had moved to America in the 1600s and the family had accumulated considerable wealth. Their position as merchants and loyalists made life difficult so they upped home back to Scotland and built the biggest and best castle possible! The Duke of Argyll used his New Yorker's skill set to persuade the government to make him a Marquiss and thus have more standing in society. Apparently the family had more trouble from invading relatives than from foreign attack!
You can see an idolised view of the castle in the painting below left. We merely touched all that was there to see, and I'd be happy to return to explore some more of this magnificent building and its surroundings.
The view seaward (see below) has covered in clouds today, but you can just make out the Isle of Arran on the horizon and the small bump of the Holy Isle in front.
One of the first rooms you see inside the castle is the Armoury. There are 716 pistols displayed in striking patterns on the walls. These were purchased in the 18th century from the Tower of London when the pistols became redundant. There are also plenty of swords and other military paraphernalia on display too.
Everything in this property oozes opulance with the best craftsmen employed to show off the wealth of the family.
Even the bell handles used to alert the servants were individual to each room and highly decorative (see photo below right). Afraid I have not done justice to the Robert Adams oval staircase. But do look at the detail in the bannisters up the stairs.
There is a long maritime tradition in the life of the castle and this is reflected in the ship-shaped cots in the bedrooms. And then there's the Eisenhower Room which can be glimpsed through a window (photo below right). The wartime American President often stayed here, labelling it his Scottish Whitehouse. It was a place where he could relax and look out over the Firth of Clyde to the wider world beyond.
Culzean Castle would have functioned a bit like a luxury hotel and of course guests needed feeding. The downstairs kitchen is fitted out with utensils of its era with rows and rows of polished copper pans.
There's even a gas making plant near the castle building which provided power to the castle up until the 1940's.
After a light lunch we walked passed the summer house to the walled garden which was lush with every shade of green!
The vegetable garden had a wall-hugging greenhouse for grapes, passion fruit, and other such delicacies.
And to end our day, we headed to the Swan Pond to see the water dragon and then finished our visit with an ice cream. The whole estate is enormous with different walking routes marked out along the way. It was a real pleasure to explore here and I hope to return to take a longer look.
