Cruggleton Castle, Dumfries and Galloway
Photo © Alan Brown, 20 September 2005
Cruggleton Castle, Dumfries
and Galloway
Photo © Alan Brown, 20 September 2005
Cruggleton Castle is a ruined castle on the eastern coast of the Machars peninusula, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
It is located on a high outcrop of shale, part of the cliff edge, about 4 km south east of the village of Garlieston. The name 'Cruggleton' is taken to derive from the rocky nature of the site.[1]
Evidence exists of a settlement at Cruggleton as far back as the First century, however it was not until the Twelfth century that a stone tower was constructed on a motte, not far from the village of Cruggleton (of which there are no remains).
In the 1290s, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, had a licence from Edward I. to dig for lead in the Calf of Man (off the coast of the Isle of Man), to cover eight towers of the castle.[2]
Cruggleton was possibly a seat of the Lords of Galloway, passing to the Earls of Buchan, most famously Edward Balliol. It then was held by the Douglas family before becoming part of a grant to the Prior and Canons of Whithorn. By 1569 it was in possession of the Earl of Moray. Several other owners held the castle until the late seventeenth century when it had become a ruin.
Today the outward remains consist of a narrow section of barrel vaulting in what was the tower (known locally as 'The Arch' and clearly visible from the B7063 Garlieston-Isle of Whithorn road) and several sections of curtain wall, mostly overgrown. The motte is still clearly visible, as is the bailey ditch about 50 metres from the structure itself.
Cruggleton Castle is accessible along a coastal path from the gardens of nearby Galloway House.
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