Earl and son flee 800-year-old castle after electrical fault sparks blaze

Published on Monday 16 February 2009 20:51

AN EARL and his son were forced to flee as fire took hold in one of Scotland's oldest castles yesterday.

Lord Glasgow and his son David evacuated after flames engulfed part of 13th-century Kelburn Castle, in North Ayrshire.

The building is believed to be the oldest castle in Scotland to have been lived in by the same family since its construction, about 800 years ago.

The blaze broke out in a top-floor room and spread to the roof in a three-storey section of the castle, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service said.

About 25 firefighters battled the flames for more than five hours before the fire was extinguished at about 7:20am.

Lord Glasgow said the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault. He believed no paintings or valuables had been lost and that he had been "very lucky".

He said: "My son David rushed in to say we were on fire and we both got out of the building. We were just so relieved when crews got here. They did a wonderful job.

"It seems to have been an electrical fault in a hot water boiler which has caused the fire, and now it looks like we'll have to carry out some structural work."

Firefighters narrowly avoided injury when a 20-metre square of heavy ornamental plaster ceiling collapsed. A spokesman said crew members had been trying to cut away at the ceiling to reach the source of the blaze when it collapsed.

Efforts were made by the firefighters to take valuable items caught up in the blaze to safety and covers were placed on objects that could not be moved.

A castle spokeswoman said that the fire's impact had been limited to one area.

"The damage was inflicted mainly on the roof above the billiard room and here is now a hole in the roof above it," she said.

"There was some water damage to the dining room, which is on the lower floor.

"The damage is not too extensive, so in that respect we are quite pleased. The firefighters acted very quickly, it could have been much worse.

"Fortunately, none of the contents of the rooms were damaged and it seems that there's nothing that can't be fixed."

The spokeswoman said that Lord Glasgow had stayed in the estate throughout yesterday.

She added that because the house was closed to visitors during winter months, it was unlikely to affect its role as a tourist attraction.

North Ayrshire Council yesterday sent a team to assess the structural damage caused to the castle.

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: "We are very sad to hear about the fire at Kelburn Castle. Thankfully, no-one has been reported as injured and it appears that the fire service's action prevented further damage to this nationally important castle.

"We have worked closely with the estate as the castle has a grant application for repairs with us. We will continue to work together and offer advice and support wherever we can.

"Hopefully, this damage can be rectified and visitors to Kelburn Country Park can enjoy this wonderful castle again in the not too distant future."

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman confirmed two people had been evacuated. "All people are out of the house and accounted for safe and well," she said. The blaze is not being treated as suspicious.

Links unbroken despite centuries of family misfortunes

KELBURN is thought to be the oldest castle to have been continuously inhabited by the same family.

Nobody knows for certain when the first stone building was constructed on the site, but the original Norman keep was probably built in 1200. This was subsequently surrounded by a grander castle, completed in 1581.

It was not until 1700 that a substantial addition was made, when the First Earl of Kelburn ordered that a new mansion house be built and joined to the existing castle. By the late 1800s, the sixth earl found himself mired in debt, but not before allowing a Victorian wing to be built on to Kelburn, enclosing one of the 1581 towers.

Inheriting this debt, the seventh, eighth and ninth earls were forced to expend much energy finding sufficient resources to keep it maintained.

It was not until 1977 that the Kelburn estate was opened to the public, and more recently the castle itself, for guided tours during the summer months.

The struggle to cope with the rising cost of running the estate continues to this day. The current, tenth, earl's son recently persuaded him to allow part of the castle's exterior to be covered in graffiti as part of a 20,000 art project to attract visitors, resulting in the earl being accused of "cultural vandalism" by architectural historians.

The family was also the subject of a BBC4 documentary Crisis at the Castle, which the earl fought to have shelved, claiming that the makers had set out to make them look "ridiculous, old-fashioned and incompetent".