Ravenstone Castle

The roofless ruins of Ravenstone Castle represent a large country house with a complex building history spanning the 16th to 19th centuries. The core of the house is a 16th-century L-plan tower, with an infill block added to the re-entrant angle in the later 17th century. An early 19th-century bow-ended wing was added to the north of this block, and a substantial double-pile addition of around 1875 mirrored the earlier 17th-century house. This combination creates a near-cruciform plan, with the arms of the cross being the early 19th-century bow-ended projections.

The 16th and later 17th century block is four storeys high and built of rubble stone with squared rubble quoins. Originally an L-plan tower with the main block running east-west and a jamb projecting to the southeast, a 17th-century addition filled in the re-entrant angle with a new southwest block. This created a symmetrical, double-pile entrance front to the west. The building line is visible on the south wall.

The west elevation, redefined as the entrance front after the later 17th-century additions, features a first-floor entrance reached by concrete steps. The windows have been regularized to create a three-bay arrangement, although some earlier window openings remain visible. An architraved, pedimented doorway is flanked by sidelights. Windows have raised margins and the roof is missing, with crowstepped gables remaining.

The north elevation has three large roll-moulded windows on the first, second, and third floors. Surviving features from the 16th century include a wide-mouth gunloop and small, roll-moulded slit windows near ground level. The south elevation shows a wide two-bay arrangement with a roll-moulded door and windows at ground level.

The early 19th-century addition is a wide, double bow-ended block with bows facing north and south, built of rubble stone with polished red sandstone margins, and has three-window bays. A later 19th-century block mirrors the earlier work to the east, featuring single windows.

During a site visit in 1988, the building was roofless, and internal access was impossible. The walls stood complete to the wallhead, with stacks remaining at the wallhead. Floors had collapsed, with the exception of a vaulted basement belonging to the 16th-century section.

A few yards north of the main house, largely concealed by a fallen tree, are the remains of a horse-powered pumping engine used for drawing water. Fragments of the cast-iron underfloor drive mechanism and harness bar are still visible. While the 19th-century additions are considered less significant, the early core, reminiscent of Prestonfield, is rare and of historic importance.

References: G Stell, 'Castles and Towers in South West Scotland', TRANSACTIONS of DGNHAS vol LVII, 1982, p75.