Wester Kames Castle

Wester Kames Castle is a restored 16th century tower which is thought to have been built by the Spens family.

The lands of Wester Kames were originally owned by the MacKinlay family. In 1447 Finlay de Spens was Constable of Bute and at some point in the 15th century Wester Kames passed into the Spens family, and it is thought that they were responsible for building the castle, possibly around 1500.

In the 17th century Wester Kames passed by marriage to the Grahams and by the early 18th century it had become part of the neighbouring Kames estate. By the mid-18th century the tower was described as a ruin, and a century later the ruins only reached a height of 3.7m.

In 1863 the Kames estate was bought by the Trustees of John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. The Marquess commissioned the Arts and Crafts architect Robert Weir Schultz to rebuild the castle. When Schultz surveyed the ruins in 1895 little more than the vaulted basement remained. Building work began in 1898 and was completed in 1900.