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Castle Semple

Drain (period Unassigned)(possible)

What is recorded here

Castle Semple is a ruined stone peel tower standing on a rocky islet in Castle Semple Loch, Renfrewshire, built by the Semple family before 1560 as an impregnable retreat during the Scottish Reformation. Robert, 3rd Lord Semple named it Defender of the Faith while opposing Protestant reform, strengthening its defences against besiegers rather than answering charges of murder and theft. The tower survived attack, loss and changing waters, and farming works later joined its islet to the shore with a curved embankment, leaving the rocky chamber visible still like a drowned room waiting for someone to remember why it was built.
Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Castle Semple as Drain (period Unassigned)(possible). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 10m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.
Castle Semple was built by the Semple family in the 13th century and later held by the Earls of Wigtown. It is remembered for its strategic role in the region's medieval history and its association with Scottish noble families.

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