Kames Castle is a castellated mansion house on the Isle of Bute

Isle of Bute

Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Formerly part of the county of Buteshire, it now constitutes part of the council area of Argyll and Bute. Its resident population was 7,228 in April 2001.-Geography:...

, 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...

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On the shore of Kames Bay near Port Bannatyne

Port Bannatyne

Port Bannatyne is a coastal village on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. It is a popular harbour for yachts.It is approximately north of Rothesay and from Rhubodach....

, the castle consists of a 14th Century tower, with a house built on it in the 18th Century. The Castle is set in 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) of planted grounds, including a two-acre 18th Century walled garden.

Originally the seat of the Bannatyne family, Kames is one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in Scotland.

Owners

Sir William Macleod Bannatyne (Lord Bannatyne) (1743–1833) was a distinguished lawyer and judge in Edinburgh. He lost his fortune and was forced to sell Kames in 1812.

James Hamilton bought Kames Castle in 1812.

Kames was the birthplace, and early home of the critic and essayist John Sterling

John Sterling (author)

John Sterling , was a British author.He was born at Kames Castle on the Isle of Bute. He belonged to a family of Scottish origin which had settled in Ireland during the Cromwellian period...

. Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...

in his biography refers to the castle as 'a kind of dilapidated baronial residence to which a small farm was then attached'.

In the mid to late 20th century, Kames was a local authority children's home.

Today the castle is privately occupied with a number of cottages available as holiday lets.