The Kennedy family built
Ardstinchar Castle in the 1420s. It survived until the 1770s when it was demolished and stone used to build a bridge over the River Stinchar, as well as houses in Ballantrae, including the Kings Arm's Hotel. The first kirk in Ballantrae was built as a mausoleum containing a memorial to
Gilbert Kennedy, Baron of Bargany and Ardstinchar, in about 1604. It became a part of the new parish kirk in 1617, replacing St Cuthbert's Kirk on the lands of Kirkholm. The ruined mausleum surives today as the
Kennedy Aisle, part of Ballantrae Old Cemetery. In June 1673, while holding a
conventicle at Knockdow near Ballantrae,
Alexander Peden was captured by
Major William Cockburn, and condemned by the Privy Council to four years and three months' imprisonment on the
Bass Rock and a further fifteen months in the
Edinburgh Tolbooth. The
Ballantrae Windmill of 1696 on Mill Hill above the raised beach cliffs is one of the oldest industrial buildings in Scotland. The present church was built in 1819. and flowering shrubs spell out the name of his daughter on the opposite side of the glen. This daughter,
Elsie Mackay, perished in an attempt to become the first female transatlantic aviator in 1928. She is commemorated by a
stained glass window in the
chancel of the church at Ballantrae. The Glenapp Castle has been converted into a luxury hotel. == Literature ==