page_title: Dundonald Castle
section_title: The present castle
hierarchical_section_title: Dundonald Castle / History / The present castle
caption_attribution_description: English: Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
context_page_description: Dundonald Castle is situated on a hill overlooking the village of Dundonald, between Kilmarnock and Troon in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Dundonald Castle is a fortified tower house built for Robert II on his accession to the throne of Scotland in 1371 and it was used as a royal residence by Robert II and his son Robert III.
context_section_description: The third castle was built by Robert Stewart, probably to mark his accession to the throne as Robert II in 1371. It was three storeys high.
  The top floor above the lofty stone vault was the upper hall – the great hall. It was for the more private use of the king and family. The first floor was the lower of the two halls – the laigh hall. It would have been used for more public activities like feasting and the holding of the baron court. The ground floor was a storage area. It was probably originally subdivided providing cellars for different commodities like wine, ale, foodstuffs and fuel.
  The tower house was extended in the late 14th century to add additional private chambers and a prison. The outer courtyard (called more properly the barmkin) was completed and ancillary buildings (stables, bakehouses, brewhouses, smithy, etc.) built against the barmkin wall.
  The third castle comprised almost everything you see above ground today, including the tower which dominates the hill.
  Dundonald castle once had its own chapel dedicated to Saint Inan.
caption: Dundonald Castle in 1903.
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