Dunnottar Castle: A Bastion of Scottish History and Royal Refuge
Overview
A dramatic medieval fortress on Scotland’s northeast coast, Dunnottar Castle has witnessed pivotal historical events from St. Ninian's 5th-century chapel to sheltering Charles II and the Scottish crown jewels during Cromwell’s invasion, now preserved as part of the expansive Dunecht estate.
History
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.
Best known for
Being the place where the Scottish crown jewels were hidden from Oliver Cromwell’s army in the 1650s
As seen in…
Franco Zeffirelli’s Hamlet (1990)
Don’t go home without seeing
The spectacular cliff-top views
Drop by…
The Ship Inn in Stonehaven, for seafood and rooms with harbour views
Need another local heritage fix?
Check out the Tolbooth Museum in Stonehaven on the harbour front, with its supply of local artefacts
Our favourite line
"Therefore a fire was brought speedily
Which burnt the church, and all those South’ron boys
Out o’er the rock the rest rush’d great noise
Some hung on craigs, and loath were to die
Some lap, some fell, some flutter’d in the sea
And perish’d all, not one remain’d alive."
- 15th-century poet Blind Harry