Monk Castle

A roofless tower-house in the Cunninghame district of North Ayrshire, Monk Castle is located in woodland to the west of the A737 trunk road on the right bank of the River Garnock, 1¼ miles (2 km) south of Dalry and 2½ miles (4 km) north of Kilwinning. It comprises a single block of two-storeys and an attic, with a square stair-tower projecting from the centre which is a storey higher, giving the castle a T-plan. Monk Castle dates from the 16th century and was a property of Kilwinning Abbey. The castle and its lands may have passed to the Hamiltons after the Reformation and the property was bought by Alexander Miller, a Glasgow merchant, in 1723. His family built Monk Castle House nearby in 1820, while a fire-clay mine operated to the northwest supplying clay to the Douglas Firebrick Company until 1945.

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