Dundonald Castle

Dundonald Castle is situated on a hill overlooking the village of Dundonald, between Kilmarnock and Troon in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Dundonald Castle is a fortified tower house built for Robert II on his accession to the throne of Scotland in 1371 and it was used as a royal residence by Robert II and his son Robert III.

The present castle stands on land where evidence suggests there was a hill fort. It is thought that a mixture of large timber-built roundhouse and straight-sided structures occupied the interior. A timber-laced stone rampart defined and defended the fort. The timber lacing caught fire and burnt with such intensity that the surrounding stonework melted, or vitrified. This firing happened about 1000 AD and seems to mark the end of the hill-fort’s existence. It was about this date that the British Kingdom of Strathclyde ceased to exist, being absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland.

The place name Dundonald means "fort of Donald". It appears to be derived from the British *Din Dyfnwal (the British personal name Dyfnwal is cognate to the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall and English Donald). The eponym of the fortress is unknown, although he may have been any of the numerous kings of Alt Clut/Strathclyde who bore the name Dyfnwal from the eighth century to the tenth century.

There have been three medieval castles present on this site. The first was built by one of the stewards of the king of Scots, most probably Walter, the first steward, who came to Scotland in 1136. There is no surviving evidence of this castle above ground today.

The second castle was built in the late 13th century by Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward, this castle was predominantly built of stone. It would have been one of the grandest baronial residences of its time. It was largely destroyed by the Scottish during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the early 14th century. King Robert the Bruce's policy was to slight (demolish) most castles so they could not be used by enemies including much greater castles than Dundonald, such as Edinburgh Castle and Roxburgh Castle. There is little remaining of this castle, however there is a well and a rounded stump of a tower near to the present.

The third castle was built by Robert Stewart, probably to mark his accession to the throne as Robert II in 1371. It was three storeys high.

Text adapted from “Dundonald Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dundonald Castle ranks #4,076 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #141 of the 207 mapped in Scotland. Founded 1371, it is older than 57% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 649 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,760 times in the last 60 days, more than 65% of the atlas. 7 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Glasgow, 38 km away. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.

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