Castle Campbell is a mediæval castle situated above the town of Dollar, Clackmannanshire

Dollar, Clackmannanshire

Dollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry...

 in central Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It was the seat of the Earls and Dukes of Argyll

Duke of Argyll

Duke of Argyll is a title, created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland...

, chiefs of Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically one of the largest, most powerful and most successful of the Highland clans, their lands were in Argyll and the chief of the clan became the Earl and later Duke of Argyll.-Origins:...

.

History

The tower house was built in the late fifteenth century and was known as Castle Gloom. The castle was originally a property of the Clan Stuart

Clan Stuart

Clan Stewart is a Highland Scottish clan. The clan is recognised by Court of the Lord Lyon, however it does not have a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms...

, but passed by marriage to Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll

Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll

Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll was a Scottish nobleman.-Biography:He was the son of Gillespic Campbell, Master of Campbell and Elizabeth Somerville. Elizabeth Somerville was the daughter of John Somerville, 3rd Lord Somerville and Helen Hepburn...

, and Lord Chancellor of Scotland

Lord Chancellor of Scotland

The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union Scotland.Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal...

. He had the name of the castle changed by an Act of Parliament

Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...

 to Castle Campbell in 1489. The Hall Range was constructed c.1500 and would have originally provided additional lodging and public reception.

In 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms the Royalist James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed...

, tried to take the castle, but failed. After the killing of King Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, the Campbells supported Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 against Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

, although Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...

, later switched his allegiance to Cromwell. Cromwell's forces occupied the castle in 1653, and it was burned in 1654 by Scots in retaliation for Campbell's support to Cromwell. Only part of the castle was restored, and its use as a residence ended. The Clan Ogilvy

Clan Ogilvy

-Origins of the clan:The Ogilvys are one of the most distinguished families in Scotland and take their name from Gillebride the second son of Gille Chriosd, Celtic Earl of Angus...

 had their revenge in 1645, for the burning of The Bonnie House of Airlie

The Bonnie House of Airlie

The Bonnie House of Airlie is a traditional Scottish folk song of the seventeenth century, telling the tale of the raid by Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll, on Airlie Castle, the home of James Ogilvy, Earl of Airlie, in the summer of 1640...

, and the other strongholds of the Clan Ogilvy

Clan Ogilvy

-Origins of the clan:The Ogilvys are one of the most distinguished families in Scotland and take their name from Gillebride the second son of Gille Chriosd, Celtic Earl of Angus...

, when Castle Campbell, near Dollar, or the Castle of Gloom, its original name, was destroyed by them and the Macleans, Just seven years later the 8th Earl of Argyll was executed for treason to the King.

In 1948 Castle Campbell was given into the care of the Government. It is now administered by Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...

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External links