Hunterston Castle

The original Hunters were Norman French in origin, who were granted the lands around Hunterston by King David I in the 12th century. In the Middle Ages, the chief of Clan Hunter was granted the hereditary title of Royal Huntsman. The family has owned the castle ever since,

The tower dates from the late 12th, or early 13th, centuries, although earlier buildings existed nearby. In the 18th century, a house was added to the tower to provide additional accommodation. In the 19th century, this was considered insufficient and a Neoclassical house, Hunterston House, was built to the north of the castle. In 1926 Robert Lorimer undertook an extensive restoration of the castle. It is a Category A listed building.

Between 1974 and 1985 the castle was open to the general public. Due to new rules and legislation by the nearby nuclear power stations which felt that having too many people in the area would be a security risk and also impossible to evacuate them quickly in event of an emergency. After this the castle was accessible on a case by case advance request visit only until 1994 when the castle became off limits to the public and only Clan Hunter members were allowed to visit. In the 2000s the castle was open one day a year as part of the opendays event, however this still caused problems due to the vicinity of the power stations so it was dropped from future events and reverted to clan members…