What is recorded here

Duchal Castle is a ruined medieval motte and courtyard stronghold built by the de Lyle family in the 13th century, occupying a narrow peninsula where the Blacketty and Green Waters meet below the River Gryfe valley. James IV besieged it in 1489 after Robert Lyle joined the Lennox rebellion, dragging cannons through local fields while Dutch pirates fired them instead of facing execution. The castle changed hands several times, surviving into the early 1700s before decay took it, leaving only broken stone walls to mark the place where loyalty, rebellion and royal anger collided.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Duchal Castle as Motte (medieval). 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.

Duchal Castle was a medieval motte-and-bailey castle, likely built in the 12th or 13th century, and is associated with the historical region of Renfrewshire in Scotland. It is remembered as an example of early feudal military architecture in the Scottish Lowlands.

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