DUNNOTTAR CASTLE

step into the historic Whigs’ Vault, find tranquility in the ancient chapel, and take in the breathtaking clifftop views over the North Sea.

Dunnottar Castle

There are ruins and then there’s Dunnottar, the ruined shell of a medieval fortress on a rocky headland on Scotland’s north-east coast, just south of Stonehaven. What remains are ruins from the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site dates back much further – a chapel on the site is thought to have been founded by St Ninian in the 5th century. During William the Lion’s reign, between 1165 and 1214, Dunnottar was a centre of local administration, while in 1297 when William Wallace captured Dunnottar from the English during the Wars of Scottish Independence, he is said to have burned 4,000 English soldiers alive in the church.

The castle has passed through many different lairds’ hands in its long history. In the late 14th century owner William Keith completed a tower house on the site, but was shortly after excommunicated for building on consecrated ground. In 1504, James IV visited the Keiths at Dunnottar, bringing with him his Italian minstrels and an African drummer, and in 1562 Mary, Queen of Scots came to Dunnottar following the Battle of Corrichie. She wasn’t the last monarch to visit: in 1580, as part of his progress through Fife and Angus, James VI stayed at Dunnotttar for ten days. The following year, George Keith began a significant reconstruction of Dunnottar that converted this old medieval fortress into a slightly more comfortable home. He built a palace of sorts around a quadrangle, creating a series of living quarters with sea views, as well as a stone gatehouse.

In 1650, the year after his father Charles I was executed, young Charles II stayed a night at Dunnottar on his journey south. Hearing of the young king’s arrival, Oliver Cromwell was so angry that he immediately ordered the invasion of Scotland. Charles II was crowned at Scone Palace, ordering the Keiths to take the Honours of Scotland, the crown and other coronation regalia, to Dunnottar for safe-keeping. The Keiths eventually left Dunnottar in 1715 when George Keith was convicted of treason for his part in the Jacobite rising, and Dunnottaar was seized by the state.

After changing hands several more times, Dunnottar was inherited in 1852 by Sir Patrick Keith-Murray who sold it on in 1873 to Major Alexander Innes. In 1919, the industrialist Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowray bought the house, beginning a series of conservation and restoration works to the house. In 1970, the castle was designed a Scheduled monument. The house remains in the care of the Pearson family, forming part of the 50,000-acre Dunecht estate.