Dunnottar - Epitome of a Castle

My idea of a castle is a stone structure high up on a cliff overlooking the sea.  It would have one way in and that entry would be heavily guarded.  Impenetrable, formidable, majestic.  That castle is Dunnottar Castle in Scotland.  Built on a rocky headland and surrounded on three sides by the North Sea.  The steep cliffs drop an impressive 160 feet!  Scotland has many, many castles but none as impressive as Dunnottar Castle.

The castle looks as though it was just born out of the rock. This narrow stairway is the only way into the castle (you can see it at the bottom center of the photo, winding around the rock).  The castle is in partial ruin with the remaining structures dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.  

But the castle actually dates to medieval times.  Vikings laid siege to this castle!  In 1297, William Wallace (Braveheart) captured the castle from the English during the Scottish Wars of Independence.  He was only 18 years old at the time!!  Story has it that he came up through what is essentially the sewer grate.  Having spent considerable time at the castle as a child he was very familiar with its layout.  A nice advantage!

And then in 1651, Oliver Cromwell laid siege to the castle for eight months.  Devil was trying to steal the Crown Jewels of Scotland.  But the clever Scots had lowered the Crown Jewels down the steep cliff and into a fishing boat.  The fishing boat was being manned by the wife of the minister in a nearby town.  She took the Crown Jewels and hid them under the Altar of the Church.  They remained there for many years.  Now of course they are on display at the Edinburgh Castle.  

Lions Den

Down in this cave like area is where they kept the lion!!  We asked about the lion den and the workers at the castle assured us that indeed they did at one point in history keep a lion there.  

Michael on the top floor of the castle

You can see what a viewpoint you have from the windows.  You would be able to see ships coming from miles away.  And they were sailing ships, so not very speedy.  Plenty of time to prepare for a siege.  

Royal Emblems

Clock!

 

 

Castle Cistern

 The castle became the home of the Earl of Marischal whose job was to protect the King when he was in parliament.  And now the castle is privately owned along with all the land around the castle. 

Its easy to wander around the castle and get lost in imagining what life must have been like.  To wander up to the top floors and imagine looking out to sea and seeing Viking ships on the North Sea.  Our trip to Dunnottar Castle was one of the best sites of our entire trip.  If you were to see only one castle in Scotland this in my view is the one to see!  But we saw many more... more on that in the next post.