Explore: Culzean Castle South Ayrshire

Castle on the clif fs

An 18th-century earl transformed this Scottish fortress into a Romantic’s dream of elegance and evocative style, with the help of one of the age’s greatest architects. BRIANNA ROBERTSON-KIRKLAND wanders through Robert Adam’s fabulous creation

Standing dramatically on the Ayrshire cliffs looking out toward the Isle of Arran is one of the most opulent examples of 18th-century classical revival architecture in Scotland. The sight of Culzean Castle can evoke a seductive Romantic image: the crenellations and turrets adorning the impressive exterior; the winding steps down to the rocky beaches and ancient caves; and the myriad of ruined follies are all waiting to be discovered. They combine to stir the imaginations of its visitors, and that’s before they step inside. No wonder Culzean Castle is referred to as a “cliff-top masterpiece”.

There has been a castle on the site, belonging to the Kennedy family, since at least the 15th century, although it was initially called Coif Castle (“coif ” meaning “cave”). It was renamed to Cullean Castle – among other variants – in the 17th century, before the present spelling was adopted. By then, it had been expanded from a modest tower house into a L-shaped castle, mainly thanks to the efforts of Sir Thomas Kennedy in the 1590s. The major changes to transform Culzean into a fashionable country mansion, however, started in 1777, two years after the 10th Earl of Cassillis, David Kennedy, inherited the property.

His masterstroke was to commission the renowned Scottish architect Robert Adam to redesign the castle and grounds. No expense was spared as the old four-storey tower house was incorporated into the mansion – indeed, the room now known as the library stands on the spot of the former castle’s ground floor – and the viaduct and Ruined Arch were added, as well as a new home farm. The work was completed in 1792, the same year that both the earl and Adam died.

While some of Culzean Castle’s rooms were changed during the 19th century, almost every alteration was in keeping with Adam’s vision. The state dining room is one such example. Created out of two smaller rooms, little of Adam’s work may remain now and yet it still feels like his creation, in part because some of the original stucco was carefully copied and extended across the whole space. Likewise, the chimneypiece and door cases are replicas of Adam originals.

One cannot write about Culzean without mentioning the oval staircase at its heart, perfectly encapsulating, as it does, the Romantic drama of the castle. Light pours in from the glass cupola above the sweeping imperial stairway, while soaring Corinthian and Ionic colonnades trick the eye into thinking that the space is larger than it is.

The staircase leads to the round drawing room, an elegant space with little furnishing except for the few seats and tables dotted around the edge. The crescent of large windows is cunningly placed to maximise the natural light flooding into the room, while providing a dramatic view of the Firth of Clyde. A place for entertainment, it was originally called the saloon. In the words of Culzean Castle’s collections care officer and head guide, Gordon Nelson, standing at the windows watching the sun set is so stunning it is almost “indescribable”.

There is plenty to see and do at Culzean Castle and Country Park, which is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The castle is open during the spring and summer, while the park can be visited throughout the year.

The earl’s masterstroke was to commission the renowned architect Robert Adam to redesign the castle. No expense was spared

Brianna Robertson-Kirkland is a research associate at the University of Glasgow, and lecturer in historical musicology at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The cliff-top Culzean Castle, a fabulous example of 18th-century classical revival architecture