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Princess Mary's Castle

7 Bedrooms | 7 Baths
West Kilbride, Ayrshire, Scotland

In the fifteenth century this Luxury Castle on Law Hill was constructed as a wedding gift for Princess Mary, the eldest daughter of James II of Scotland upon her marriage to Thomas Boyd the Earl of Arran. Six hundred years later, it is available for rent as Scotland's most luxurious and exclusive holiday home. What is now the formal great hall of this comfortable but unusual home once served as a courtroom - and comes complete with a pit prison behind a flagstone trap door? There's also a 'murder hole' through which hot oil could have been poured over unwelcome visitors outside.

The kitchen has modern appliances side by side with medieval ovens and a chimney rising to the parapet. A spiral stone staircase connects the five floors. On the ground floor there are two vaulted rooms, one a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, and the other a utility room. On the first floor there is The Great Hall and kitchen, and on the levels above five bedrooms and a sitting room .

Many of the shuttered windows dotted around the castle have seats in small chambers set into the thickness of the wall. The staircase continues to the roof level, where there is an unusual 'Caphouse', formerly the guards' lookout. There are views over the quiet village of West Kilbride towards the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Arran. This landmark property lies in its own grounds at the foot of Law Hill, just inland from the Ayrshire coast.