Janet Brennan-Inglis

In 1887–92 The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland was published in five volumes. This was the magnum opus of two Edinburgh architects, David MacGibbon and Thomas Ross, a monumental work of reference describing and illustrating 769 Scottish castles and lamenting their neglect. In the three counties of Dumfries and Galloway — Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire — MacGibbon and Ross described fifty-eight castles, out of a total of around 100 (see Appendix 1 for the list). This paper compares the condition and future outlook of those fifty-nine castles in 1892 and 2014. It was concluded that, with a few notable exceptions, the current situation and outlook for the castles of Dumfries and Galloway which were described by MacGibbon and Ross has improved overall. However, there is no room for complacency, with two of these castles on the Buildings at Risk register and several others which are cause for serious concern. Overall, more than a quarter of the castles surveyed by MacGibbon and Ross have deteriorated — although, happily, nearly half are in a significantly better condition than in 1892. Those castles of Dumfries and Galloway which were missed by MacGibbon and Ross show a similar pattern of improvement since the late nineteenth century, but several important buildings are also still at risk of further decay.