Barr Castle Barr Castle is a late medieval tower house . It can be seen today as a ruin on a low ridge to the south of the village of Lochwinnoch . History . Barr Castle was constructed in the early 16th century . It passed into the hands of the Hamiltons of Ferguslie at the end of the 16th century who retained the castle until it was sold and abandoned for a new mansion in the late 18th century . The castle is protected as a category B listed building , and as a scheduled monument . Architecture . The tower itself is a simple rectangle on plan , measuring about 7 . 80m east to west by 10 . 70m transversely which stands to the level of the corbelling of the four angle turrets , now gone , about 12 . 0m high ; on its south side , the chimney stack and part of the gable remain . Externally the castle is very plain , and it depends for its appearance on its mass . The tower has walls of roughly - coursed , square - faced masonry with dressed stone corner - quoins . The only remaining ornamental feature is the pediment above the main entrance , inscribed with the initials of Margaret Hamilton and John Wallace . The main entrance to the castle is at ground level on the west side . This is a later alteration ; the original doorway was on the first floor . Window openings survive on all four sides of the building . Also visible on the tower walls are several elements which indicate later alterations , probably in the late 17th century , when the tower was converted into a larger residence . Little now survives of the courtyard as drawn by McGibbon & Ross in the 19th century . Extant photographs and plans indicate that the courtyard supported various subsidiary buildings , including a wing attached to the southern wall of the tower , now gone . The ground floor was divided into two apartments , both of which had low vaulted ceilings . The entrance doorway opened into a small passage , from which the two apartments could be formally accessed and where the circular stair to the upper floor started . The kitchen possessed a large and very low arched fireplace . The hall occupied the whole of the first floor , with light entering from the four sides . The hall differed from the great majority in Scottish castles , the ceiling having been flat and low instead of the usual loftily arched form . It is evident from the existing plans of the second floor that it had been divided into two apartments by a light partition starting from between the doors of the two garderobe s in the south wall . The two staircases would haven given separate access from the hall below to these two rooms . The third floor had , like the second floor , been divided into two apartments with a garderobe for each and separate access from the hall as on the floor below . Closets are formed in the thickness of the walls . The plan of the battlements shows the common arrangement for the protection of the walls before lead came into use . The stones overlap at the joints , and gargoyles are formed on the lower ones . Formally stairs at the north - west angle led to the battlements as well as the main stair , and there was a complete passageway round the top of the building . The corner turrets had been roofed , and checks previously existed for small doors at each , and iron crooks for the hinges . A large gutter formed of stone hollowed on the surface formed the junction between each turret and the main roof . Various inscriptions are carved into the fabric of Barr Castle . These include IW and MH on the pediment above the main entrance , IH and IC 1680 above the lintel at the head of the stair and WO 1699 on the battlements . The carvings are the initials of various Hamilton Lairds of Barr , John Wallace and his wife Margaret Hamilton , John Hamilton and Jean Cochrane . The Lands of Barr . The Poll Tax Roll of 1695 details the farms and settlements comprising the Lands of Barr as Sunnyaykers on the Lynthills , Bridgend , Johnshill leaving the village , Cruiks , Knockbarton , Kame and the Barneich farms . The Glens of Barr . Barr Castle was built by the Glen family . On the death of Alexander Glen in April 1629 , the castle passed to the Hamiltons of Ferguslie . The Hamiltons of Barr . Margaret Hamilton , eldest daughter of Allan Hamilton of Ferguslie , married John Wallace , second son of William Wallace of Elderslie . It was a term of the contract that the husband was to assume the name and arms of Hamilton . Accordingly on the 9th July 1647 a grant under the Great Seal was made to John Wallace of the right to do so , hence the Hamilton ’ s of Barr . Alexander Hamilton of Barr , great grandson of Margaret and John , was born in 1670 . Called of Barr his name appeared in 1695 on the Poll Tax roll for Lochwinnoch . He was appointed a Commissioner of Supply for Renfrewshire the following year . Alexander died in 1747 and was buried in the graveyard of St John ’ s Kirk . Alexander ' s grandson John Hamilton sold the estate to the Macdowall family . He died in 1825 and was buried in the family tomb at Lochwinnoch . Macdowall of Garthland . As of 2011 , Barr Castle is owned by Fergus MacDowall of Garthland , Chief of the Clan MacDowall and as such regarded as the clan seat . The MacDowall family have little historical connection with the castle , other than ownership of the land on which the castle is built . The surviving inscriptions both internal and external relate to the Hamilton family . Legends . Jabez Hamilton , one of the last individuals to reside in Barr Castle , died in one of the upstairs rooms . When the undertakers came to remove her body for burial , they had great trouble in manoeuvring her coffin down the narrow spiral staircase .