CASTLE KENNEDY, STRANRAER, DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY, SCOTLAND.
CASTLE KENNEDY IS ABOUT THREE MILES EAST OF STRANRAER, DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY, IN SOUTH-WEST SCOTLAND. THE ESTATE IN WHICH IT STANDS HAS BEEN OWNED BY THE KENNEDYS SINCE 1482, WHEN JOHN, LORD KENNEDY, WAS APPOINTED KEEPER BY KING JAMES IV. IN THOSE DAYS, THE CASTLE WAS ON AN ISLAND AND THE PRESENT-DAY WHITE AND BLACK LOCHS (SEPARATED BY A NARROW STRIP OF LAND) WERE ONE AREA OF WATER.
THE CASTLE WE SEE TODAY WAS BUILT IN 1607 BY JOHN KENNEDY, 5TH EARL OF CASSILLIS. IN 1677, THE PROPERTY PASSED TO THE SIR JAMES DALRYMPLE OF STAIR, WHO ADDED THE NORTH RANGE TO THE EXISTING BUILDING.
CASTLE KENNEDY GARDENS EXTEND TO 75 ACRES OF LANDSCAPE, WITH TERRACES AND AVENUES, OVERLOOKING THE TWO LOCHS. THEY HAVE AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF RHODODENDRONS AND AZALEAS AND MANY SPECIMEN TREES GROWN FROM SEED. THE MONKEY PUZZLE AVENUE WAS PLANTED IN 1896 AND THERE IS A TWO-ACRE CIRCULAR LILY POND. THE WALLED GARDEN IS OVERLOOKED BY THE RUINED CASTLE KENNEDY.

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