Located in a
200 acre country park, the keep of Dean Castle dates from c.1350, with a palace and
barmkin added in 1460. A Victorian mansion is now the castle shop, where guided tours
commence. The castle was burned in 1735 and lay in ruins until the restoration of 1908-46.
The gatehouse was added in 1936.
The palace has a vaulted
kitchen on the ground floor, with old utensils, and oven in the ingle. The dining room
above has a plaster ceiling, brought from Balcomie Castle. Heraldic banners commemorate
former owners. A stair leads to a chamber, with panelled walls and a plaster ceiling.
The Boyd family owned Dean
Castle until 1748. In 1786 the Scotts (later Scott-Ellis) bought it, with the 9th
Lord Howard de Walden giving the castle to Kilmarnock in 1975. |
