Lochranza Castle

Lochranza Castle stands on a low promontory reaching into the sea loch of the same name, on the northern coast of the Isle of Arran. The earliest fortress here dates to the thirteenth century, when the site belonged to the MacSween clan, but most of what survives — an L-plan tower house — was rebuilt in the sixteenth century. The castle then passed through royal and noble hands across four centuries. In 1262 Alexander III granted it to Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith, and by 1371 it had become the property of Robert II, who is thought to have used it as a hunting lodge. James IV drew on the castle during his campaigns against the Lord of the Isles in the 1490s, and later years saw it occupied by the king in 1614 and by Cromwell’s forces in the 1650s. The Duchess of Hamilton had bought it by 1705, after which it eventually passed to the Blackwood-Davidson family. It fell into disuse during the eighteenth century and now stands as a ruin in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Tradition also links the spot to Robert the Bruce, said to have landed nearby around 1306 on his return from Ireland.