Straiton, nr. Maybole, Ayrshire -
'there
are at least three sundials in the grounds of Blairquhan
Castle in Straiton, near Maybole in Ayrshire. One is on a very high
stepped
plinth to the left of the castle as you face the front entrance, one
within the
walled garden, and a multi-faced sundial just outside the walled garden.
The
latter one however is in a serious state of disrepair.'
Dennis Cowan
This is a rather nice horizontal dial. I would take a guess at this being early nineteenth century which would place it as being around the time the castle was rebuilt. However, the origins of the design (particularly of the plinth) is older and connections could be made to the dial at Holyrood or Melville House. Certainly Holyrood was well illustrated amongst nineteenth century architectural circles.
See the interesting facet dial and the other horizontal dial also at Blairquhan.
Credit for the dials at Blairquhan goes to Dennis as neither Somerville nor Ross mention them.
Visited
01 January 2005 - D. Cowan
The castle that was dismantled in 1821 dated back to 1346 with a big addition in 1575. Some of it's carvings were incorporated into the new building - perhaps that accounts for some of the dials while some could have been constructed then.