Scotland Castles

Scotland and castles go together, there are hundreds of Scottish ones. This page sets out just to give you a selection of the best dozen or so. Click on the yellow buttons on the map to get more details of that one

Scotland castles Dunrobin Castle Cawdor Urquhart Ballindalloch Balmoral Blair Eileen Donan Duart Glamis Torosay Inverary Stirling Edinburgh Brodick


Ballindalloch Scottish baronial on Speyside, Ballindalloch Edinburgh Edinburgh Royal residence
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Balmoral Castle Scottish baronial on Royal Deeside at Balmoral Eileen Donan Clan fort at Eileen Donan
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Blair Castle Clan fort, Blair Glamis Castle of Mar near Dundee
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Brodick, Scotland NT National Trust for Scotland own Brodick Inveraray Scottish baronial at Inverary
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Cawdor Castle Clan fort at Cawdor Stirling Royal fortress, the "key to control"
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Duart Castle Clan fort of MacLeans at Duart Torosay Scottish baronial at Torosay
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Dunrobin Scottish baronial Dunrobin Urquhart Clan Urquhart fort on Loch Ness

 

There are hundreds of  them in here. They fall into different categories, and have evolved with the passage of time, ending with the "Scottish baronial" of Victorian times

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Edinburgh Castle, perhaps the best known of them all
After the Tower of London, Edinburgh Castle is the next most visited ancient monument in Britain. From the battlements looking down you get a panoramic view over the city of Edinburgh, laid out before you. Inside the walls is a remarkable fortress and former Royal residence, packed with history. Remember also that though the castle is a historic monument, it is also a working military establishment. The Scottish Division is headquartered here and is a military guard on the main gate. An interesting example of the old and the new working together.

Stirling Castle
Stirling is the most strategically important of all the fortresses. Hence it has been fought over and changed hands more than any other Scottish castle. It is at the landward end of the Firth of Forth, and controls movement across the Lowlands and into the Highlands. He who controlled Stirling, effectively controlled the whole country. After the restoration, the castle reverted to the Earl of Mar and his heirs, but after the then Earl was accused of being a Jacobite, King George I removed him from ownership. The Crown then was the keeper of Stirling until in 1923, when King George V restored it to the Earl of Mar.

Balmoral
Following a visit to Scotland in 1842, Queen Victoria leased this small Deeside residence, without seeing it, as a holiday home. She saw it for the first time in 1848, and was not disappointed, describing it as " a pretty little castle in the old Scottish style" " the finest almost I have seen anywhere"

Scotland castles and culture too