Scottish Blog

Portencross Castle is a castle, located on the West Coast of Scotland. It was also the last mainland resting place for many Scottish kings before burial in Iona.

Portencross Castle stands three kilometres to the west of the village of West Kilbride in the North Ayrshire region. The site has been fortified since the 13th century. The castle was originally built as a fortified position on Auld Hill, within the vicinity of its current location. It was rebuilt sometime in the 14th century on it s current location. It was at this point that the castle was used to house the remains of Scottish kings before they were transported to the Island of Iona for their royal burial. It is believed that the first Scottish king to be handled in this manner was Cinaed Mac Alpin, this custom lasted until its last Scottish king, Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.

The site at which the current Portencross Castle stands originally belonged to the Ross family, it was confiscated by Robert the Bruce and rewarded to the Boyd family in 1315.

Once the Portencross Castle was built it was used a number of times by the Scottish monarchs, especially Robert II and Robert III. It is known for a fact that these two monarchs signed a number of their first Royal Charters at the Castle. This also led a number of researchers to believe that Portencross Castle was utilised as a retreat or even a residence by the Kings of Scotland. Because of this, Portencross Castle is currently an A Graded historic site.

In its current condition Portencross Castle consists of complete walls with no major damage. Although it does not have a roof, as it was blown off in a strong storm in 1793.