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Cassillis
House is 7 miles southeast of
Ayr,
by the small village of Minishant. This
is a Private Castle that cannot be
visited.
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Cassillis Castle was built from around
1350 for Clan Kennedy as their main seat.
Their first Castle was built in the 1200s
at Dunure on the coast, 10 miles
west.
The image top is from the roadside
between Minishant and Dalrymple, although
hedging has been allowed to grow so the
Castle cannot be seen from the road.
The second image is of Cassillis House
/ Castle from the gardens. The original
Tower from the late 1300s, and a later
Tower from the 1600s, were painted around
2016. The Mansion built onto the front of
the Towers is from the 1600s.
This design is quite common in
Scotland, as from the 1600s Scotland had
become a safer place, leading to Mansions
being built. Some demolished the Tower
Houses, others kept them just incase any
Wars broke out.
1792 - Culzean Castle on the
coast 8 miles southwest was rebuilt into
a large modern Castle to serve as the
Kennedy's main seat in place of
Cassillis.
1945 - the Kennedy's handed Culzean
Castle and its vast grounds over to the
National Trust for Scotland as they could
no longer afford to maintain the Castle
and Estate. The Kennedy's then moved back
to Cassillis House and used Maybole
Castle as their Town House.
2009 - the Kennedy's sold Cassillis
House to Confused.com founder Kate
Armstrong, who spend a vast amount of
money updating the Castle.
2016 - Cassillis was put up for sale
for £3.9 million, much less
than it cost to buy and renovate.
Behind Cassillis Castle is a deep
Gorge and Burn that would have given
protection around much of the early
Castle.
Across the Burn is the lands of the
Muir's of Achindrane, with the two Clans
often at war with each other. See Culzean
Castle for more on the history between
the Kennedy's and Muir's.
Neighbouring Clans in Scotland were
often fighting, why they lived in Tower
House. Many disputes would be over things
like cattle rustling and could last for
hundreds of years, with tit for tat
murders of prominent Clan members.
Sometimes marriage would be used to
end disputes.
Kennedy Castles in the Area
1200s - Dunure Castle was the
first Kennedy Castle built 10 miles west
of Cassillis.
1300s - a Tower House was built for
the Kennedy's at Culzean 8 miles
southwest of Cassillis.
1500s - Baltersan
Castle was built for the Kennedy's 5
miles southwest of Cassillis.
1500s - Maybole
Castle was built for the Kennedy's 4
miles south of Cassillis.
1603 - Greenan Castle was built
for John Kennedy of Baltersan Castle 6
miles northwest of Cassillis.
1792 - Culzean Castle was
enlarged to be the largest Castle of the
Kennedy's 8 miles southwest of
Cassillis.
There were a number of other Kennedy
Castles built throughout the southwest of
Scotland, most now are in ruin.
Kennedy Clan Information
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