Castle Campbell - Dollar, Clackmannanshire, Scotland (HS)
Whether approaching on foot via a long winding icy path from below or driving up to the Castle's own car park, the appearance of Castle Campbell is sudden and forbidding.Its sits isolated, high in the hills above Dollar and no more than 10 miles from Stirling. Ravines on either side made by the Burn of Care and the Burn of Sorrow make excellent natural defences against attack and the romantic names add to the atmospheric despondency of the place.
The grassy mound on which it is built suggests that the site was used as a fortification from as early as the twelfth century, with perhaps a Norman style wooden palisade and defensive ditches protecting the residence on the hill-top. For several centuries the lands were known as "ecclesiastical lands of Dollar and Glume", belonging to the bishops of Dunkeld. However, the earliest documentary mention of the building dates from a Papal Bull of 1466, ordering Church action against Walter Stewart of Lorne for his destruction of "a certain manor with a tower of the place of Glowm situated in the territory of Dolar". The church retained an interest in the land until the late seventeenth century.
Towards the end of the fifteenth century, the present tower house was built, replacing the presumably fortified manor house destroyed by Walter Stewart. The then owner, Colin Campbell, first Earl of Argyll, renamed the castle as Castle Campbell in 1489-90, after permission from King James IV was granted. As an experienced politician who had acted as King James III's Ambassador to France, he had moved the principal family seat here from Invararay, so as to be closer to the movers and shakers at the royal castles of Stirling and Edinburgh.
Distinguished guests to visit the Castle include Mary Queen of Scots in 1563, to celebrate the wedding of the fifth Earl's sister to James Stewart, Lord Doune and John Knox in 1566, where he preached and taught the new Protestant religion, having a most notable convert in the Earl .
In 1645 the town of Dollar below the Castle was burned, probably by the Macleans, who had a long-standing feud with the Campbells. This was part of the widespread unrest between the Royalists, loyal to King Charles I and the Protestant Covenanters. The Castle escaped this time, but its end came in 1654 when, following the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 by Oliver Cromwell's army, it was burned by those in Scotland who saw the part Argyll (created first Marquis in 1641) played in the proclamation of Cromwell as Lord Protector of Scotland as treachery. During excavations at the Castle in 1982, charred floorboards of the hall in the south range were uncovered as tangible evidence for the events of the Civil War.
In the nineteenth century, George Campbell, the sixth Duke of Argyll, sold the Castle and it fell further into ruin, until it came under the protection of the National Trust for Scotland in 1948.
Castle Campbell ~ Argyll Scotland
As one of the main residences of the powerful Campbell family, Castle Campbell had to be impressive enough to display their position and wealth, while retaining effective defences and providing enough accommodation for the Earl's retinue of perhaps over fifty people. There is a thick courtyard wall, with gun-holes to protect the entrance and the tower was built without openings on the north side, other than at the top. The tower house was independently secure with a great hall for important or large gatherings and a kitchen on one side. In the east range was additional accommodation and there were two gardens, one formal garden for pleasure and one kitchen garden for the table. There are four floors , three of which were stone vaulted and latrines were built into the private chambers. A parapet walk was supported by stone corbels.
Along the south side of the courtyard was the Hall Range, much altered during its use and now sadly ruined. Connecting this range to the Tower house is the East Range, a sophisticated design dating from around 1600. The furnishings would have been sparse, but richly coloured wall-hangings and paintings would have brightened the dark stone walls. Grasses strewn with scented herbs would have covered the floors and in its heyday, Castle Campbell would have been a comfortable and prestigious place to stay.