Terringzean Castle
29 October
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Terringzean Castle from the main road
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A view of trhe castle tower from the west
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The Lugar Water and the Terringzean Holm
Terringzean Castle , also Taringzean, is a Grade B listed castle ruin lying above the River Lugar and the Terringzean Holm in the policies of Dumfries House.
Craufordstone or Craufurdstoun, was used previously, suggesting that it and these lands originally belonged to the Craufords, as did Leifnorris or Lochnorris Castle which stood on the site of what is now Dumfries House. The name is pronounced 'Tringan'.
Terringzean Castle occupies the summit of a high, steep bank overlooking the Lugar Water and the Terringzean Holm; a dry moat ending at the steep natural haughs or slopes, is still clearly visible as a protective measure against approach from the level ground to the south-east and south-west. The moat's appearance is mainly due to the excavations carried out by the 3rd Lord Bute in the 1890s.
The small, irregular, octangular 14th century vaulted tower has a splayed base ]and is constructed of courses of square ashlar masonry, 6m (20ft) high, with walls 2.0m thick, is the earliest part of the structure, together with the wide wall at the north-west. The tower had an entrance from the courtyard via a narrow passage leading to a partly surviving wheel-stair. The remains of outbuildings lie to the north and a well was recorded within the keep; a sizeable courtyard lay within the complex. The remains have seen some restoration[ and the lines of excavation trenches are apparent. The whereabouts of the records of the late 19th century excavations is not known for certain.
A hall house existed before this walled enclosure, possibly of a 13th century date, indicating that an even earlier fortification may have been present. Some have seen similarities between the tower of Terringzean and that of Mugdock Castle
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