Kenmure Castle

This site has seen various fortified buildings since the early Middle Ages, some historians think it may even have been the home of the Lords of Galloway, rulers of an independent Irish speaking Kingdom. It would have been an important fortress as it is relatively close to where the frontier with the Welsh speaking Kingdom of Strathclyde would have been.
The site later passed into ownership of the powerful Balliol family and Kng John Balliol is thought to have been born here. After the Balliols fled to France, the castle passed into ownership of the Gordon family in 1298 and they would own it until the early 20th century. During the civil war, the Gordons supported Charles I and the castle was besieged and damaged by a Cromwellian army. By the late 18th century the castle was a ruin. The poet Robert Burns visited during his tour of Galloway.
During the late 1800's the Gordons rebuilt the castle as a baronal style mansion house which incorporated much of the old building. The grey harling was added at this time which gives the building an unusual appearance.
In the 1920's the castle became a luxury hotel which closed in the 1950's and was sold to a scrap merchant who stripped the building and removed the roof in 1958.
More pictures here https://www.flickr.com/photos/107793356@N06/sets/72157644219441756/



001 by tumble112, on Flickr

003 by tumble112, on Flickr

004 by tumble112, on Flickr

007 by tumble112, on Flickr

Gordon coat of arms

008 by tumble112, on Flickr

010 by tumble112, on Flickr

015 by tumble112, on Flickr

018 by tumble112, on Flickr

021 by tumble112, on Flickr

031 by tumble112, on Flickr

032 by tumble112, on Flickr

Gates to remains of a walled garden

038 by tumble112, on Flickr

Unusual stone beside the gates

037 by tumble112, on Flickr

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for looking.

This is a nice imposing building with great features,thanks for showing.

Yes, nicely recorded. I would point out that stripping the roof off was very common in the 1950's/60's. Leave the roof on an empty shell and the building was deemed habitable and thus rates had to be paid - a large amount on that building. Remove the roof and the building was classed as uninhabitable - thus rates not owed.

Whoa, that's a big old place. Nice find.

Dirus_Strictus said:

Yes, nicely recorded. I would point out that stripping the roof off was very common in the 1950's/60's. Leave the roof on an empty shell and the building was deemed habitable and thus rates had to be paid - a large amount on that building. Remove the roof and the building was classed as uninhabitable - thus rates not owed.

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I have heard this before, I find it criminal though, such beauty being weathered away.

Nice documentation though.

very beautiful!

lincsguy39 said:

I have heard this before, I find it criminal though, such beauty being weathered away.

Nice documentation though.

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If you put it against the backdrop of the country almost going bankrupt paying crippling war reparations to the US and having to raises taxes through pretty much any way they could etc then it's not quite so criminal, but it is definitely sad. The heritage and preservation movement is a relatively new phenomenon off the back of that really.

krela said:

If you put it against the backdrop of the country almost going bankrupt paying crippling war reparations to the US and having to raises taxes through pretty much any way they could etc then it's not quite so criminal, but it is definitely sad. The heritage and preservation movement is a relatively new phenomenon off the back of that really.

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Don't worry I will keep it derelict related after this but as someone with a keen interest in history (in particular WW2), I think you have made a very valid point. Thanks for the kind comments though

lincsguy39 said:

I have heard this before, I find it criminal though, such beauty being weathered away..

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Many of the picturesque mansion ruins we can see today were actually pretty foreboding and austere looking structures during their habitable years, Kenmure being no exception.

Krela is perfectly correct in connecting the demise of the Country House with the Country's financial state. However, as was the case after WW1, there was another reason families were forced to abandon these properties after WW2. At that time if an estate had been valued, the most valuable asset would have been bricks and mortar, unless the estate had huge land holdings - Farm land and grouse moors had a low monetary value. To escape death duties etc, many estates had been gifted to elder sons prior to war starting, sadly many of these young men did not survive the war. With the large house becoming a mill stone around the neck due to running and maintenance costs, you see other properties on the estate becoming the residence of the ageing owners - the old house either being demolished or being de-roofed to escape rates etc. Intriguingly in the mid 60's things had changed somewhat - the value of agricultural land was rising and the selling price of many country houses that were divorced from their lands had fallen drastically. As I have stated before, in 1965 four of us seriously considered buying a smallish country house just off the old A1 near Doncaster. Purchase and conversion into four apartments was well within our combined budget - what killed the project stone dead was the astronomical cost of completely re-roofing a place that was full of worm and dry rot. As no land came with the house, we had nothing to sell to fund the structural repairs. Still it was nice whilst the dream lasted, but gave me a clear insight into why owners of the large houses sometimes just walk away from the money pit the house became.

Dirus_Strictus said:

Krela is perfectly correct in connecting the demise of the Country House with the Country's financial state. However, as was the case after WW1, there was another reason families were forced to abandon these properties after WW2. At that time if an estate had been valued, the most valuable asset would have been bricks and mortar, unless the estate had huge land holdings - Farm land and grouse moors had a low monetary value. To escape death duties etc, many estates had been gifted to elder sons prior to war starting, sadly many of these young men did not survive the war. With the large house becoming a mill stone around the neck due to running and maintenance costs, you see other properties on the estate becoming the residence of the ageing owners - the old house either being demolished or being de-roofed to escape rates etc. Intriguingly in the mid 60's things had changed somewhat - the value of agricultural land was rising and the selling price of many country houses that were divorced from their lands had fallen drastically. As I have stated before, in 1965 four of us seriously considered buying a smallish country house just off the old A1 near Doncaster. Purchase and conversion into four apartments was well within our combined budget - what killed the project stone dead was the astronomical cost of completely re-roofing a place that was full of worm and dry rot. As no land came with the house, we had nothing to sell to fund the structural repairs. Still it was nice whilst the dream lasted, but gave me a clear insight into why owners of the large houses sometimes just walk away from the money pit the house became.

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Yes I was talking specifically about roofs being removed. What you said above still stands now. As we've seen on this site there are many empty manor houses on the verge of becoming derelict, and many others struggling along as hotels/conference venues, or diversifying into other things as the estate alone cannot make enough money to cover the upkeep. There's even TV programs about how manor owners can stay afloat!