What is recorded here

Hessilhead Castle stood as a strong medieval tower house beside a loch in North Ayrshire until Francis Montgomerie expanded it in 1680. The structure survived as a roofless ruin until the 1770s when the proprietor stripped its materials, leaving behind a desolate shell that later vanished under quarrying and demolition. What remains is a ghost of a building, reduced to scattered rubble and a drained moat that now serves merely as a ditch for water to escape.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Hessilhead Castle as Tower House (medieval). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 1m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Hessilhead Castle was a medieval tower house built by the Maxwell family in the 16th century. It is remembered for its strategic location in the Galloway region and as an example of defensive architecture in southern Scotland.

The historic-place record does not grant public access. Check current conditions and ownership before entering land or a building.