Dunnotter Castle, nr Stonehaven
Goblinshead |
130 Inveresk Rd Musselburgh EH21 7AY SCOTLAND |
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| Built on a promontory on cliffs high above the sea, Dunnottar Castle is a spectacular ruined courtyard castle, parts of which date from the 12th century. The castle consists of a 15th-century L-plan keep, 16th- and17th-century ranges around a large courtyard, as well as a chapel, stableblock, forge, barracks, and priest's house.Dunnottar was captured by William Wallace from the English in 1296, one story telling that he burnt 4000 Englishmen here. Edward III of England took the castle in the 1330s and strengthened it, but it was quickly recaptured by the Scots.The Keith Earls Marischal acquired the property in 1382, and by the beginning of the 16th century Dunnottar was one of the strongest fortresses in Scotland. Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed here in 1562. The Marquis of Montrose unsuccessfully besieged it in 1645. In 1651 the Scottish crown jewels were brought here for safety, and Cromwell had the castle besieged in 1652. Before the garrison surrendered, after an eight month siege, the regalia and state papers were smuggled out to be hidden in nearby Kinneff Church until recovered at the Restoration. In 1685 Covenanters, numbering some 167 women and men, were packed into one of the cellars during a hot summer and nine died while 25 escaped. The others, when freed, were found to have been tortured. The Earl Marischal supported the Jacobites in the Rising of 1715, and was forfeited. The castle was partly dismantled in 1716, and again in 1718, and be came ruinous. External shots of the castle were used in the film Hamlet with Mel Gibson. Getting to the castle involves a walk, steep climb, and a steeper one back.. |
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Goblinshead
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2000
