Stanecastle

Stanecastle
Stanecastle in 2007
General information
Type	Tower
Location	Stanecastle, Irvine
Coordinates	grid reference NS333400
Construction started	ca.1363
Renovated	ca.1750
Owner	North Ayrshire Council

Stanecastle was a medieval barony and estate in North Ayrshire, Scotland, first mentioned in 1363 and now part of the Irvine New Town project. Its nearest neighbours are Bourtreehill and Girdle Toll.

The early history of Stanecastle is obscure but it was once believed that the 'stane' (stone, Norse: steinn) prefix referred to older Roman structures. However, it is now known that stone building in Scotland and Ayrshire was not restricted to the Roman and Norman periods, and need not suggest any such Roman origins.

The ancient name of the barony was the 'Barony of Stane (Stone)'. A ley tunnel is said to run from Seagate Castle in Irvine to Stane Castle.

William Fraunces de le Stane held lands which included a chapel dedicated to Saint Bridget. The chapel stood on the muir near to Stane on the right bank of the Annick Water.

At the core of the medieval estate may have been an older medieval nunnery or convent and evidence has been discovered (and long lost under a turnpike road) of a small medieval chapel, probably dedicated to St. Bridget and, as was the norm, had its own graveyard (also long buried underneath the road). In the 17th-century the twenty shilling lands of old extent called Brydskirk are recorded, but with no mention of a chapel.

The original castle was built circa 1417 by the Francis family, who also held land at Sprouston near Kelso. The barony passed by marriage to the Montgomerys of Greenfield.