Dean Castle Palace, Kilmarnock. Photograph: 28 July 2006 ©Fraser Sutherland
Dean Castle, Kilmarnock.
Date 28 July 2006 ©Fraser Sutherland
The walkway at Dean Castle, Kilmarnock. Photograph 28 July 2006
©Fraser Sutherland
Dean Castle, Kilmarnock in 1790. Ayrshire.
Source . Antiquities of Scotland. 1797
This former stronghold once the home of the powerful Boyd family, is steeped in history. The current display include historic weapons, armour and early musical instruments.
Dean Castle was once the home of the powerful Boyd family. In 1316 Sir Robert Boyd was granted the lands of Kilmarnock and West Kilbride by King Robert I for his services at the battle of Bannockburn
The Keep was built, mainly for defence, around 1350 by Sir Robert Boyd’s son Sir Thomas Boyd. The walls are 2-3 metres thick, it has few windows, and the original entrance is high above ground level.
There are no arrow slits in the walls of Dean Castle, an unusual characteristic for a Scottish castle of this period. Archers would have fought from the battlements at the top of the Keep.
The palace was built in the 1460s by Robert Boyd, ennobled as the first Lord Boyd in 1454. In 1460 he was one of the Regents during the minority of King James III. Conspiring with his his brother, Sir Alexander Boyd, he gained possession of the King's person in 1466 and was made by Act of Parliament sole Governor of the Realm. He negotiated the marriage between James and Margaret of Denmark. He was appointed great Chamberlain for life, and Lord Justice general in 1467.
Conflict soon broke out between the King and the Boyd family. When his regime was overthrown, Lord Boyd was pronounced guilty of treason and fled to Northumberland. His brother and assistant, Sir Alexander Boyd, was captured and beheaded on 22 November 1469. Lord Boyd fought in the English service in the French wars, and died in exile.
In 1735 the castle was damaged by a fire which started in the kitchen of the palace, spreading onto the thatched roof where it then spread onto the roof of the keep. The Castle was a complete ruin. Although some parts of the buildings always remained in use, the resident of the castle, the 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, had financial problems and could not afford the necessary repairs.
The castle was sold by James Boyd in 1746 and the estate changed hands many times. After almost two centuries of neglect, the 8th Lord Howard de Walden inherited Dean Castle in 1899. He commenced a programme of restoration, completing the Keep in 1908 and the restoration of the palace in 1946
While supervising the restoration of the buildings, the new owner developed a keen interest in arms and armour and during his life he built up one of the country’s finest collections of Arms and Armour.
Today, museum staff provide guided tours of the buildings.
The keep has four floors. The ground floor or cellar housed the original kitchen, for the Great hall above, and the bottleneck dungeon. When the keep was built both the kitchen and dungeon were reached from the first floor by ladder; there were no doors leading outside. Today, this space is used to explain the history of the Castle and its inhabitants. It is the centrepiece of the displays, with a wide range of swords, helmets, shields and suits of armour.
The first floor has the Great Hall with its large vaulted ceiling. This hall was mainly used for grand banquets and entertainments but also served as a court with the lord as judge.
The first floor also has a minstrel's gallery where travelling minstrels played instruments and acted for the Lord and Lady sitting below. Off the minstrel's gallery is the minstrels changing room and sleeping quarters. They were allowed private quarters as a form of quarantine against disease.
The guard room, with sole access to the dungeon (a small hole in the floor) was located on the first floor. This room was always manned to both guard the dungeon but also the sole entrance to the castle, a small door above ground level, which is next to the guard room.
The second floor houses the Solar, a large room used as the private chambers for the Lord and Lady. The Solar could be divided by a large curtain, one half for Ladies and the other for men. There are two fireplaces in the Solar one on each side for either sex. The Solar also houses a small private chapel where the resident priest would say Mass. Today the Solar, the private chambers and the chapel house a fine collection of early musical instruments. Replica instruments are available for visitors to play.
The top floor of the Keep contains a small barracks and the battlements used in the defence of the castle.
The Palace was built as a dwelling rather than a defensive structure.
On the ground floor of the palace was the kitchen with a large fireplace and oven. Today, this space contains displays about kitchen work and the food of the period.
The first floor has the wood-panelled Banqueting Hall and the adjacent private room of Lord William Boyd. The original stair case leading up to the first floor was a timber structure on the outside of the building, however due to the wet climate a stone stair case was later added inside the palace. Above, on the second hall had bedrooms for the family. Today, the banqueting hall functions as a temporary exhibition space.
Defence of the Palace was not overlooked. The tower, known as the Laigh or Low Tower, contains Lord Boyd's private apartments and has projecting battlements. Also the courtyard was protected by a high wall or Barmkin. This protected the other buildings housed in the courtyard, such as stables, stores and smithy.
In 1975 the 9th Lord Howard de Walden gifted the castle, estate, his father’s collections of arms and armour, and his grandfather’s collection of musical instruments to the people of Kilmarnock.
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