- Type
- Ruin
- Origins
- 1350 · 14th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Scotland, United Kingdom
- Commissioned by
- William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas
- Architect
- William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 56.0564°, -2.6506°
History
The castle was built in the mid-14th century by William Douglas, later the 1st Earl of Douglas, on a headland that drops to the sea on three sides. By the end of the century it had passed to the Earls of Angus, the line known as the Red Douglases, who often quarrelled with the Scottish kings. James IV besieged it in 1491, and in 1528 James V spent almost three weeks bombarding the walls in vain to punish Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. The king obtained the castle only through negotiation. In 1651 Cromwell's troops under George Monck took and wrecked the fortress after a bombardment lasting nearly two weeks.
What to see
On the landward side the headland is closed off by a red sandstone curtain wall more than 15 metres high, 3.6 metres thick and some 90 metres long, with towers at either end and a gatehouse in the middle. Visitors can climb the walls and enter the towers, and the ditches and ramparts of the outer defences survive in front of the castle. The headland looks out to the Bass Rock and its gannet colonies.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q57803
Popularity: articles about this site in 19 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).