Brodick Castle / Isle of Arran **
Region: Ayrshire & Arran
© Copyright David Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Description:
In 1406 Brodick castle was badly damaged by an English force that had sailed into Brodick Bay. Further destruction was inflicted by John of Islay, Lord of the Isles, in 1455. The castle had been rebuilt by the Earl of Arran by 1510, but suffered at the hands of the Campbells and the MacLeans. During the "Rough Wooing" of Mary, Queen of Scots, Brodick castle was attacked by an English force led by the Earl of Lennox on behalf of Henry VIII, in revenge for the actions of the 2nd Earl. In 1639, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, was the de facto ruler of Scotland and leader of the presbyterian faction. Argyll seized Hamilton's castle of Brodick. Hamilton was made a Duke in 1643 and recovered his castle the following year at the outbreak of the Scottish Civil War.
In 1906 after more than five hundred tumultuous years Brodick passed out of the Hamilton family.
It is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.