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Cardoness Castle is a late medieval tower house situated in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-western Scotland, dating from the fifteenth century. The castle was built by the McCulloch family and stands as a well-preserved example of a Scottish tower house, featuring the characteristic vertical stone construction typical of the period. The structure comprises a rectangular main tower with corner turrets and originally included defensive features suited to the frontier conditions of the borderlands. Cardoness remained in use until the early seventeenth century and was later abandoned, but the substantial remains of its masonry survive to demonstrate the architectural conventions and defensive requirements of late medieval Scottish domestic fortifications.
Cardoness Castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90058. View the official record →
Cardoness Castle is a late medieval tower house situated in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-western Scotland, dating from the fifteenth century. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90058.
Cardoness Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM90058.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Plunton Castle,Lennox Plunton (4.8 km), Knockbrex Fort, 55m ENE of Doonwood (5.9 km), Ardwall Island,chapels & cemetery (6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cardoness Castle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cardoness Castle stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.