Ardlochan Lodge, Culzean Castle, Kirkoswald, South Ayrshire

Description

Circa 1830. Single storey, 3-bay, rectangular-plan, piended roof gate lodge, prominent brick ridge stack, lean-to extension with catslide roof to S. Limewashed random rubble with droved ashlar dressings. Located on S side of track at SW entrance to estate. N ELEVATION: broad central doorway flanked by side lights. Segmental-arched windows to outer bays. W ELEVATION: central segmental-arched window. E ELEVATION: central segmental-arched window with door to lean-to on left. S ELEVATION: small window aperture to left in wall of lean-to.

Predominantly 8-plane glazing in side-hung timber casements. Corniced brick stack with red clay cans. Grey slate roof.

INTERIOR (seen 2010): small entrance lobby with oak-grained timber panelling and doors. Former kitchen to left, with scullery in lean-to beyond. Ochre-coloured 1ft-square ceramic tiles concealed beneath later timber floor. Circa 1930 ceramic tile fireplace. Former bedroom to right, with additional room in lean-to beyond. Lime-ash floor concealed beneath timber flooring. 19th century timber fireplace, with later grate and ceramic tiles. Vertically boarded timber doors throughout.

GATEPIERS: square plan diminutive droved ashlar piers with cornice and shallow pyramidal copes, attached on both sides to remains of random rubble wall, with slab coping. Tubular metal gate (non-original).

Statement of Interest

Part of an A group at Culzean Castle Estate comprising: Culzean Castle; Castle Walls etc; Fountain Court etc; Ruined Arch and Viaduct; Stable Block etc; Camellia House; Cat Gates; Home Farm; Powder House; Ardlochan Lodge; Dolphin House; Hoolity Ha'; Swan Pond Complex; Swan Pond Ice House; Walled Garden; Bathing Complex; Water Works; Shore Boat House; Battery and Mast House; Main Drive Walls and Piers; Gas Works.

The lodge and gate at Ardlochan were part of numerous improvements to the Culzean estate carried out for the 1st Marquess of Ailsa and is an important ancillary component of the estate. This lodge formalised the entrance from Maidens to the NW, marking the beginning of a direct axial W-E carriageway to the Castle, in contrast to the other winding drives around the grounds. The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (1854-9) shows a small lean-to already present, but this is probably subsequent to the original construction as the walls are thinner and the rubble construction cruder. It was extended to the full length of the rear elevation, in 1901. Plans of that date show an additional stack at the centre of the rear wall. At the same time the main portion of the building was re-roofed and the window added in the previously blank east elevation. There is no window in the west elevation in the 1901 plans, suggesting a later alteration. Extensive recent analyses of paint layers have indicated that the casement window frames in the N (principal) elevation are original, and that the building appears to have been limewashed from the earliest days, initially in a pink shade using yellow and red ochre. Documents in the Culzean Estate Office show that the current brick chimney is the third, the second being of stone.

Together with the remarkable ornamental landscape of its estate, Culzean Castle is acknowledged as the epitome of the Picturesque movement in Scotland, in its own right and is a work of international importance. Culzean, at one time the largest estate in Ayrshire, has been associated with the Kennedy family since the Middle Ages. It was gifted by Gilbert the 4th Earl of Cassillis to his brother Thomas Kennedy, in 1569. In the 1660s, the barmekin around the tower house was breached to create the terraced gardens, orchards, and walled garden for which Culzean was notable, while the caves beneath the castle ' now a scheduled monument ' were fortified to serve as secure stores. Culzean Castle became the principal family seat when Sir Thomas Kennedy (1726-75) became the 9th Earl of Cassillis, in 1759. A continuing programme of improvements was undertaken by Sir Thomas and his successors during the 18th and 19th centuries. The 10th Earl began rebuilding the Castle to designs by Robert Adam. This work was continued by Archibald (1770-1846), the 12th Earl, later the 1st Marquess of Ailsa. From about 1810 onwards he commissioned numerous structures, both practical and ornamental, and several important architects and landscape designers were engaged to embellish the gardens and grounds with ponds, gates, lodges and pavilions, resulting in several key works of the Picturesque era. The 3rd Marquess undertook the modernisation and enlargement of the Castle in the 1870s. In 1945, the 5th Marquess of Ailsa divided the property, making over the Castle, and the policies immediately surrounding it, to the National Trust for Scotland.

List description revised as part of the Culzean Castle Estate Review, 2010-11.

External Links

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