Culzean Castle

The castle was built in stages between 1777 and 1792, incorporating the large drum tower with its sea-facing circular saloon, the oval staircase and a suite of well-appointed apartments. It was the venue, on 14 November 1817, for the marriage of the 1st Marquess of Ailsa's daughter, Margaret Radclyffe Livingstone Eyre, to Thomas, Viscount Kynnaird; Margaret would go on to become a noted philanthropist. The estate's military connection runs deep too — the Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry was formed by the Earl of Cassillis at Culzean in about 1794, and returned on 24 June 1961 to receive its first guidon from General Sir Horatius Murray.

In 1945 the Kennedy family gave the castle and grounds to the National Trust for Scotland, stipulating that the apartment at the top of the castle be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War. Eisenhower first visited in 1946 and stayed four times, including once while President of the United States. That association endured: the castle reopened in April 2011 after a refurbishment funded by a bequest from the American millionaire William Lindsay, who had never visited Scotland but, reportedly drawn by Eisenhower's holidays here, asked that a significant portion of his $4 million go to Culzean.

Not every part of the estate's past is comfortable. The walled garden stands on the site of the home of Scipio Kennedy, a man enslaved by the Kennedy family. Elsewhere, the armoury holds a propeller from a plane flown by Leefe Robinson when he shot down a German airship north of London in 1916, and the Gas House by the northern bay supplied town gas to the castle until 1940.

Culzean's paranormal reputation has attracted broadcasters as well as visitors. In 2002 the Most Haunted team, led by Yvette Fielding and Karl Beattie with medium Derek Acorah, explored the castle's paranormal stories and reported sightings of ghosts for an episode of the programme's first series, broadcast on Living TV.

Beyond that, the record is thin. What has come down is a count — at least seven — and two figures within it, rather than detailed accounts of particular encounters.

The castle is open to the public throughout the summer, and the wider estate all year round. The 240-acre Culzean Castle Country Park takes in a walled garden, other estate buildings open to visitors, shops, cafés and a playground, with the Gas House group to the north of the castle — the gas manager's house now holding an exhibition on William Murdoch, alongside the Retort House and the remains of the gasometer. The sea caves beneath the castle are not generally open, but tours run through the summer. The castle received 334,000 visitors in 2025, so it is worth planning ahead.

If you would like to stay, there are eight self-catering properties available for holiday rental within the country park, including the Brewhouse Flat, which sits within the castle itself. The castle can also be hired for private events. Film fans may recognise the building as the home of Lord Summerisle, played by Christopher Lee, in the 1973 cult film The Wicker Man, with scenes shot here between October and November 1972.