Comlongon Castle

Tower house in Scotland

Comlongon Castle is a tower house dating from the later 15th century or early 16th century. It is located west of the village of Clarencefield, and south east of Dumfries, in south west Scotland. The original tower has been extended by the addition of a baronial style mansion, completed around 1900. Originally built by the Murrays of Cockpool, it remained in the Murray family until 1984. It was subsequently restored, having been vacant for some time, and the castle and mansion are now a hotel. As of 15 April 2019, the business side of Comlongon Castle has gone into Administration, consequently all weddings due and accommodation booked for after this date were cancelled, leaving the future of the castle uncertain.

Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, granted the lands of Comlongon, in the early 14th century, to his nephew William de Moravia, ancestor of the Murrays of Cockpool. Comlongon was built to replace the Murrays' earlier castle of Cockpool, of which only earthworks remain at Cockpool Farm, to the south west of Comlongon. The construction of Comlongon has been attributed to Cuthbert of Cockpool (died 1493) in the later part of the 15th century. It was certainly present in 1508, when it is mentioned in documents creating the Barony of Cockpool for John Murray. Descendants of the Murrays were later created Viscounts Stormont in 1621, and Earls of Mansfield in 1776, and Comlongon was part of the Earl's estate until 1984. An adjacent mansion was built in the 18th century, and was replaced with the present Baronial style house in 1900, designed by local architects John M. Bowie and James Barbour. From 1939 until 1952 the house served as a children's home operated by Barnardo's. After a spell of occasional use it was sold by the Earl to Tony Ptolomey, who set about refurbishing both tower house and mansion as a hotel. The hotel, operated by a partnership, was a popular wedding venue until April 2019, when the business entered administration after being assessed a payment of almost £40,000 the previous year to a former employee who was ruled to have been unfairly dismissed.

The red sandstone tower is described as "exceptionally complete".