Old Travel Blog Photograph Rowallan Castle Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Rowallan Castle, located three miles North of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. The original castle is thought to date back into the 13th century. Rowallan was said to be the birth place of Elizabeth Mure, or Muir, first wife of Robert, the High Steward, later King Robert II of Scotland. In 1513 John Mure of Rowallan was killed at the Battle of Flodden. In 1513 the Rowallan Estate took its present day form. In about 1690 the estate was home to the Campbells of Loudoun, who held it into the 19th century. The former tower of Polkelly lay near Rowallan and was also held by the Mures, for a time passed to the second son until it passed by marriage to the Cunninghams of Cunninghamhead. In 1691 the Hearth Tax records show that the castle had twenty-two hearths and eighteen other dwellings were associated with the castle and its lands. Edith Rawdon Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun, was especially fond of Rowallan and spent considerable sums repairing the castle in the 19th century. Without her efforts the building would not have survived down to the present day.



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