Details

15th century
keep

Location


NS 210 484
Ayrshire
Law Hill
.5m n of West Kilbride
e of B7047 near B781
map

Information

private hotel

Links

Wikipedia
Law Castle Site
Gaszetteer
RCAHMS
Clan Boyd

Questions?
Comments?

Law Castle

Not to be confused with Law Tower (despite the fact that this is a tower house), whch is entirely gone. This looks like a residence, so we didn't venture too close. I found out later is it a hotel/self-catering.


The restored tower of Law Castle

15th century keep

The keep here has been entirely restored, reharled, and made into a comfortable hotel. We saw a half-dozen tower houses in Ayrshire that were similiar -- pale plaster, smal windows, restored interior and out. There are a lot of them in the region, and enough survived to be worthwhile resotring as houses or hotels.

The tower is fourt storeys with an attic above a corbelled out parapet. The parapet has open rounda t the corners. The tower is 12.6m x 9.2m.

Inside, two chambers in the cellar are vaulted, with a wide stair leading up to the first floor hall and a spiral stair leading upwards from there. The kitchen is on the first floor, wscreened off from the hall.Each of the floors is subdivided into two or more rooms. A large double room for the laird and his wife was on the third floor, and on the fourth, two more bedrooms.

The main entrance is on the south side, and is flanked by a spiral staircase, isntead of tucking the stair into the corner, as was usual. Most of the current interior has been redesigned to include modern amenities.


the main entrance, with the window filled in for a date plaque

Ownership

The Boyds owned the castle. THey became Earls of Arran by marrying into royalty -- Mary, daughter of James II. The castle was bult in 1468, and Mary and her new husband were forced into exile the next year. The Boyds retained the castle until the 17th century..

The Bontines bought the castle in 1670.

The Philips family restored the castle in the 1980s. It is currently restored as a private hotel. Details of the renovation and offerings can be found at LawCastle.com


the windows are very small, as would be expected from this timeframe