page_title: Kerelaw Castle
section_title: The castle today
hierarchical_section_title: Kerelaw Castle / The castle today
caption_attribution_description: English: Ornate stone carving from Kerelaw bridge, Kerelaw Glen, Stevenston, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
context_page_description: Kerelaw Castle is a castle ruin situated on the coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland in the town of Stevenston.
context_section_description: Kerelaw Castle is now a ruin, with three walls surviving in various states of decay. Gothic windows still adorn the southern wall, believed to have been inspired by those at Kilwinning Abbey (and are proof that much of the castle was built at various points in history).
  In 1852 Paterson noted arrow-slits and cable mouldings of pre-14th century date. An old bridge, now used for pedestrians only, is situated next to the ruin (NS 2688 4288), but the castle itself is fenced off to protect both the public from falling stone and the castle from unwanted attention. The castle and surrounding ground is owned by North Ayrshire Council. In 2014 some repairs were carried out on the building and the immediate surroundings were cleared of excess trees and shrubs that were harming and hiding the structure. A QR Code and heritage trail plaque are attached to the fence and an interpretation board is present.
  The bridge has a large cavity or 'cave' within it and this once gave access to pedestrians using the path that ran parallel to the Stevenston Burn. The arch of the bridge and the 'cave' show that the bridge was built in two stages and was widened with the upstream side being more recent. A large ornately carved cruciform embellishment has fallen from the bridge arch and lies downstream from the bridge.
  The castle's former walled garden with its sundials and complex flowerbed layout is now occupied by a housing estate built in the late 1960s, but a single wall of the structure still remains. In the 1850s an orchard is shown on OS maps, located next to the walled garden.
  A cobbled ford once crossed the Stevenston Burn in the Kerelaw Glen beneath the castle and ran up the bank passed the Kerelaw Mains home farm. The later limestone quarry workings destroyed the lane leading up from the ford. Two footbridges crossed the burn, one at the surviving weir and the other beyond the quarry house where mortared ashlar dressed stone walls still survive.
caption: Ornate carved keystone quatrefoil from above the bridge's arch.
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