Montfode Castle

Montfode Castle is a tower house in North Ayrshire, Scotland, featuring a circular tower roughly 8 meters high with four storeys and three slit windows at ground level. The remaining walls are visible from the A78 Ardrossan bypass and vary in thickness from 0.7 to 1.4 meters.

The tower was built in the 16th century when Norman nobles of the Montfode family controlled this strategic location above Montfode Braes. By the early 1800s, the structure was dismantled as its stones were taken for other building projects in the area.

Stones from the castle were repurposed in the early 1800s to build a dam and farm structures nearby, showing how local communities reused materials from older buildings. This practice reflects the practical approach to construction in the region.

The ruins are easily viewable from the main road, making inspection straightforward without special effort. The flat approach and open location allow for visits at any time, though the area can be windier and wetter than sheltered surroundings.

The scheduled protection area spans roughly 120 meters east to west and 80 meters north to south in a parallelogram shape, suggesting buried structures may lie beneath the surface. These dimensions hint at a much larger original site now hidden under farmland.

Location: North Ayrshire

GPS coordinates: 55.65820,-4.82128

Latest update: December 9, 2025 12:26