Description

The monument comprises Old Hall, also known as Old House of Croach or Alpin's Old Castle, a medieval building, now visible as an upstanding mound. The monument is situated on the NW bank of the reservoir at the head of the Glen Burn at about 140m OD.

The house is located on Laight Moor, SW of the confluence of the Duckdubs Burn and the Glen Burn, and NE of the point at which a ford crossed the latter. It commands magnificent sightlines down the steep-sided valley and to the Irish Sea.

The lands on which the house stands were detached from the Cairn Ryan Estate to William Agnew, second son of Sir Andrew Agnew, in 1460. The first reference to the existence of a house here, however, dates to 1563. Lochryan House was built in 1701, about 1.7km to the SSW, at which time the old house was abandoned. It is described as 'Old Hall (In ruins)' on the First Edition OS map.

There is evidence to suggest that the laird's house was originally rectangular in plan, perhaps of two storeys, and aligned NW-SE at the NE end of the site, with a subsidiary building set perpendicularly at the SE. These buildings formed the NE and SE sides of a rectilinear enclosure. The walls of the house were approximately 1.1m thick. The entrance was midway along the SW wall and a narrower dividing wall bisected the ground floor to the right of the doorway. Entry into the courtyard may have been through a narrow passage on the SE side between the two ranges.

The remains were re-used as sheepfolds sometime after the abandonment of the Old Hall. Most of the rebuilding was concentrated in the courtyard area and part of the NE wall of the monument was utilised as the SW side of a sheepfold. A later enclosure to the SW appears to be contemporaneous with its use for livestock and is partly submerged by the reservoir. The remains consist of a substantial mound of rubble lying amongst mature trees. However, parts of the original walling survive up to 1.6m in height and, upon closer inspection, the form of the laird's house complex is still discernible.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be found. It is rectilinear on plan with maximum dimensions of 41m NE-SW by 34m NW-SE, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

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Source: Historic Environment Scotland