Undiscovered Scotland

 

The Castle of St John - also sometimes known as Stranraer Castle - stands right in the heart of Stranraer and dominates the town around it. Its roof also provides - via a spiral stone staircase that gets quite interesting in its upper reaches - the best viewpoint for anyone wanting to get a sense of the layout and setting of Stranraer.

The Castle of St John was built by the Adairs of Kilhilt, one of the most powerful families in Wigtownshire at the time. The Adairs came from Ireland in the Middle Ages and had built up extensive landholdings in this south-west corner of Scotland. These were extended into what later became Stranraer in the 1480s and they built a chapel dedicated to St John. The castle followed in about 1510, on a site near the earlier chapel. A settlement called "Chapel" grew up around the castle and chapel and in 1595 Ninian Adair made the settlement into a Burgh of Barony.

The castle passed by marriage to the Kennedy family in 1608 and it later became a property of the Dalrymples of Stair. In the 1670s it was used as a military garrison for Government troops brought into the area to counter the religious dissent of the Covenanters. (Continues below images...)

 

The castle stood empty by the early 1800s and was converted to serve as a prison that had two cells for criminals, three rooms for debtors and a courthouse. The cost of the conversion was £785, a significant sum at the time. The most obvious change to the building was the removal of the gabled roof and its replacement with a flat area used as an exercise yard for prisoners: and today by those enjoying the views over the town.

Records suggest that most of the early jailors were drunks and by the 1840s other aspects of the accommodation and running of the prison were coming under criticism. After a new prison was built in 1854 the building was little used. During World War Two it served as a fire watching station and an Air Raid Precautions headquarters. The castle enjoys an open outlook to its north and west today. Until as recently as the 1960s it was surrounded by a warren of narrow streets and old buildings.

Today the Castle of St John serves as a fascinating free museum as well as - as already mentioned - a great place from which to view the town. The many developments and changes of use over the centuries are reflected in a complex and fascinating interior that really is an asset to the town that surrounds it.