Carsluith Castle, Dumfries and Galloway (Scotland)
A delightful and well-preserved ruin of a tower house of 16th-century date.
Introduction
The delightful and well-preserved ruin of a tower house of 16th-century date.
The 18th-century ranges of outhouses are still in use by the farmer, reminding the visitor that such houses were originally linked to outbuildings.
One of its owners was the last abbot of Sweetheart Abbey.
History to the present day
The lands of Carsluith were held by the Cairns family until 1460, when they passed to James Lindsay of Fairgirth, Chamberlain of Galloway. He was probably the builder of the main tower at Carsluith in the late 15th or early 16th century. His son, Sir Herbert Lindsay, was killed at Flodden in 1513. The castle then passed, though a daughter of James Lindsay, to Richard Brown. The Browns (or Brouns) of Carsluith added to the castle, building the stair tower on the north side in the 1560s. A Roman Catholic family, the Browns feuded with the Protestant McCullochs of Barholm, and in 1579 Richard's son John was fined £40, when his son, also John, failed to appear on a charge of murdering the Mculloch laird of Barholm.
Another descendant of Richard Brown was Gilbert Brown of Carsluith, who served as the last abbot of Sweetheart Abbey, near Dumfries, before the Protestant Reformation. Later it was alleged several times that Gilbert was sheltering Jesuit priests at Carsluith, and in 1605 he was arrested for his Catholic sympathies. He was banished to France, where he became rector of the Scots College, Paris. He died in Paris in 1612.
The Browns of Carsluith emigrated to India in 1748, and the castle has not been occupied since. In the early 19th century, new farm buildings were built on to the castle, forming a U-plan steading which remains. Today the castle ruin is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, in the care of Historic Scotland.
Arrival information and how to find us
Address: , Scotland, , United Kingdom
Carsluith Castle is located 3.5m south of Creetown on the A75.
