Eglinton Castle has had a long and interesting history. The earliest known castle was destroyed in 1528, when the Cunninghame’s of Glencairn, Stevenston, raided the Montgomerie lands and set fire to the castle, which was rebuilt afterwards.
In 1608 Timothy Pont described Eglinton Castle as a fair and strong ancient house with well planted and beautiful gardens, orchards, and parks. The main tower had a vaulted basement with a spiral staircase built into one corner wall and the parapet wall of the roof was supported by corbelling.
Alexander Montgomerie, 6th Earl of Eglinton was a prominent Covenanter who vehemently opposed the Common Book of Prayer imposed on the Scottish people by King Charles I. He assisted with the preparations for the “National Covenant” and in March 1638 acted as a witness to those subscribing to the National Covenant.
Following the death of King Charles I, his son King Charles II found support amongst the Covenanters of Scotland. In January 1651, King Charles II was crowned at Scone, Perth, by John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun, the Lord Chancellor of Scotland and Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll, who placed the crown upon King Charles II’s head. Alexander Montgomerie, 6th Earl of Eglinton, was one of the three Scottish noblemen who assisted them. The other two noblemen were John Leslie, Duke of Rothes who carried the sword of state, and John Lindsay, 17th earl of Crawford and 1st earl of Lindsay who carried the sceptre.
Later in 1651, while raising forces for King Charles II, Alexander was captured by English soldiers in Dumbarton and sent first to Edinburgh Castle as a prisoner of war, then to Hull, and finally to Berwick-on-Tweed. He was released in December 1659. While Alexander was imprisoned his estates were forfeited. Cromwell’s troops took over Eglinton Castle and established a military garrison there.
In 1729 architect William Adam rebuilt the east side of Eglinton Castle and added a kitchen and back court. Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton was very interested in agriculture and transformed the 2,000 acres at Eglinton into a beautiful estate.
In 1796 the old castle was demolished and Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton had a new castle built to plans supplied by architect John Paterson of Edinburgh.
John Tweedie of Lanarkshire, head gardener of Edinburgh Botanical Gardens laid out some of the gardens at Eglinton Castle before emigrating to Argentina in 1825, where he became one of the first British botanists to explore the flora of Argentina.
In 1839 Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton held the Eglinton Tournament to which he invited people from around the world including Prince Louis Napoleon who later became Emperor Napoleon III of France.
When the City of Glasgow Bank collapsed in October 1878 bankrupting many of their shareholders, Archibald William Montgomerie, 14th Earl of Eglinton had to sell off the lands of Coilsfield and Eaglesham.
Following the death of George Arnulf Montgomerie, 15th Earl of Eglinton the estate was crippled with death duties. There was no longer enough money to maintain the castle and employ sufficient staff to care for it. The Montgomerie family moved to Skelmorlie Castle and from 1st to 5th December 1925 the paintings, furnishings, weaponry, and armour were sold off by public auction at Eglinton Castle. In 1926 the roof of the castle was removed to avoid paying taxes and the lead sold.
During World War Two, the Royal Engineers established vehicle maintenance and preparation depot at Eglinton and No. 4 Commando unit used the shell of the castle for target practice and training exercises, during which two of the towers were destroyed. The castle was further damaged during Naval gunnery practice.
In 1952 the Eglinton Estate was sold to Clement Wilson who restored the stable block to house his meat processing and canning factory, administration block and laboratory complex. That same year he opened the grounds of Eglinton Park to the public.
In 1965 Clement Wilson created the Wilson Foundation, which had by the early 1970s made the ruins of Eglinton Castle safe and saved the corner tower as well as landscaping the grounds. In 1978 the Clement Wilson Foundation gifted Eglinton Park to Cunninghame District Council.
Bibliography
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14629712.2021.1996947 – Crowning of King Charles II, at Scone, 1651.