Duchal Castle, Inverclyde
Photo © gumdropgas, 21 July 2009
Duchal Castle, Inverclyde
Photo © wfmiller, 9 July 2008
Duchal Castle, Inverclyde Photo © gumdropgas, 21 July 2009 |
Duchal Castle, Inverclyde Photo © wfmiller, 9 July 2008 |
Duchal Castle, on the outskirts of Kilmacolm, was constructed by Ralph de l’Isle (later Anglicised to Lyle) and remained in the family until purchased by the Porterfields in 1544 who remained there until 1710 when much of it was deconstructed and the stone used to build a new home further down the River Gryffe, which exists to this day as Duchal House. The ruins of the castle are still located in the parish. The name 'duchal' means 'between two rivers' and this indeed is reflected in the Castle's position, set between Green Water and its tributary, the Blacketty Water.
Most significant in the Castle's history was its siege by King James IV of Scotland, following the Lyle's support of an insurrection against him. According to accounts, the inhabitants of the Castle surrendered immediately on the sight of the famous Mons Meg cannon being rolled into position against them.
The Porterfields were staunch Covenanters and Duchal was widely seen as a refuge when the profession of such sympathies was criminalised and conventicles were held on the natural amphitheatre which is positioned within the present-day 14th hole of the Kilmacolm Golf Club. The estated was sequestered in 1684 and the men of the Porterfield family arrested; it was however returned following the Glorious Revolution.
The last of the Porterfield family was James Corbett Porterfield, who died without an heir in 1855. His estate then passed to Sir Hugh Shaw-Stewart, 8th Baronet. Duchal was subsequently purchased by the first Lord Maclay, and remains in the family to this day.
--DUCHAL CASTLE, RENFREWSHIRE.
Little remains of this ancient stronghold, and what still exists is so buried in thick wood at the bottom of the valley of the River Gryfe as to be scarcely discoverable. The site, which is about two miles south-west from Kilmalcolm, consists of a detached mass of rock almost entirely surrounded by the deep ravine, through which run the river and a confluent. The sides of the rocky site are either perpendicular for a height of about 20 feet or very precipitous. The whole position, which is of considerable extent being about 70 yards in length from east to west, by 30 yards wide has been enclosed with a strong wall of enceinte, portions of which still remain. Outside of this wall to the west the neck of the peninsula has been cut across by a deep ditch. The entrance gateway has probably been at the north-west angle. The general surface of the enclosure is fairly level, but at the south-east angle a precipitous pinnacle rises about 20 feet above the courtyard. On this seems to have stood the keep, the foundations of which, surrounded by a higher wall, are yet traceable.
The wall of enceinte, although greatly demolished, has been of a much stronger character than the ordinary enclosing walls of courtyards, and may possibly be the remains of a thirteenth-century castle. The keep, however, was not likely so old, but in its present state of dilapidation it cannot be further described. The whole castle is most probably a structure of the Second Period. The estate belonged from the thirteenth century to the family of Lyle, the representative of which was raised to the peerage in 1446 as Lord Lyle. In 1544 the property passed to the Porterfield family.
THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND BY DAVID MACGIBBON AND THOMAS ROSS, 1889--