THE big day is nearly with us.

The third Ardrossan Castle Carnival will take place on Saturday on the Castle Hill.

Among the attractions are archaeology, Ardrossan Youth Association Theatre, balloon modelling, castle tours, Crafty Beggars, Fester the Jester, Garnock Connections, horse jousting, medieval warriors, music and puppets, musket firing, spray painting, stocks and sponges, storytelling and Sunshine Archery.

The event runs from midday till 4.30pm. They hope to emulate the success and enjoyment of the last two carnivals. Admission is free.

A short history of Ardrossan Castle

ARDROSSAN Castle is situated upon a rocky hill, which gives it its name, made up of ard, meaning height, and rossan, a rocky promontory.

The present ruins are on the site of an earlier castle owned by the Barclay family. By the thirteenth century it had passed to the Ardrossan family.

The castle has long been deemed a distinctive feature of the town of Ardrossan. It was included, for example, in the tour book from 1847 titled Sylvan’s Pictorial Handbook to the Clyde and its WateringPlaces by Thomas and Edward Gilks. There the castle is described as a marker of regional identity and subject antiquarian interest, from which beautiful views of the ocean can be seen.

The Gilks state that Ardrossan was originally called “Castle Crags”, but was renamed Ardrossan after the family who owned it.

The castle is the property of the Eglintoun family, though it was already ruined, and was adjacent to an old churchyard.

The castle remained in place until 1648, when Oliver Cromwell’s troops destroyed it, removing much of the stone and taking it to Ayr to build a fort, called the Ayr Citadel, there.

The ruins of this castle still stand, but are in hazardous condition. The building has been designated a Scheduled Monument.