Ayr Castle was a castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 situated near the River Ayr

River Ayr

The River Ayr , longest river in what was the old county of Ayrshire of Scotland, is approximately 65 kilometres in length. It originates at Glenbuck Loch in East Ayrshire on the border of Lanarkshire and winds its way through East and South Ayrshire to the town of Ayr, where it empties into the...

 at Ayr

Ayr

Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...

, South Ayrshire

South Ayrshire

South Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Once considered a royal castle nothing remains of the castle above ground.

History

In 1197, the castle was built by King William the Lion

William I of Scotland

William the Lion , sometimes styled William I, also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough", reigned as King of the Scots from 1165 to 1214...

 of Scotland, who later in 1205 created a burgh

Burgh

A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...

 at Ayr. The castle was captured by the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 King Håkon Håkonsson and his supporters in 1263. Robert de Brus

Robert I of Scotland

Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...

 burned the castle in August 1298 which had been captured by the English and under the command of Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy

Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy

Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick was the son of Henry de Percy and Eleanor de Warenne, daughter of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Surrey, half sister of Henry III....

. The castle in 1542 was garrisoned by French troops and appears to have been demolished before the Cromwellian occupation between 1650–1651.