Dunnottar Castle

Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a precipitous rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles (3 km) south of Stonehaven. Its surviving buildings are largely of the 15th-16th centuries, but an important fortress certainly existed on this site from Dark Age times. Dunnottar played an important role in the history of Scotland from the Middle Ages through to the Enlightenment, due to its strategic location overlooking the shipping lanes to northern Scotland and also being situated on a fairly narrow coastal terrace that controlled land movements, particularly the land access to the ancient Causey Mounth, the only medieval route from the coastal south via Portlethen Moss to Aberdeen.The site, now owned by private interests but open to the public, is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists annually.

The ruins of the castle are spread over a 3-acre (12,000 m²) area virtually surrounded by sheer cliffs which drop to the North Sea 50 metres below. This L plan castle is accessed via a narrow strip of land joining the mainland and a steep path leading up to the massive gatehouse. The cliffs and headland formations which extend miles to the north and south are home to tens of thousands of pelagic birds, making this stretch of Scottish coast a notable bird sanctuary of northern Europe from the standpoint of total bird populations and diversity of species. Portions of the 1990 film Hamlet starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close were shot there. An episode of The US Television show The Amazing Race featured Dunnottar Castle.

Early in the 16th century the Scots added a new block to the east of the keep. Mary Queen of Scots visited Dunnottar in the years 1562 and 1564. In 1575 a substantial stone gatehouse was constructed, which serves as the imposing present day visitor's entrance. James VI stayed during part of the year 1580. From 1580 to 1650 the Earl Marischals converted a medieval style fortress into an opulent castle, constructing ranges of edifices around a quadrangle on the northeast. These resulted in arguably the most luxurious living quarters in Scotland in that era. Between 1582 and 1584 a west wing to the fortress was erected. Also, during the 16th century, a new chapel was introduced. Then, early in the 17th century two other wings to the chapel were added.

In 1639 the owner of Dunnottar was the Seventh Earl Marischal, who that year joined the Covenanters, a movement opposing the established Episcopal Church and hence Charles I himself. James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, earlier an ally of Marischal, tried to convert Marischal back to the Royalist cause; being unsuccessful in that exercise, Montrose turned on his former friend and attacked the fortress, laying waste by fire to expansive grain fields all about. Nonetheless, Marischal held the fortress, in spite of considerable structural devastation. At about this same time in history Covenanters, who had been opposing the Bishops of Aberdeen, held a conference in nearby Muchalls Castle. Events at Dunnotar and Muchalls Castles were to prove a pivotal turning point in the English Civil War, and to promote willingness of the monarchy to come to terms with the ideals of the Covenanters.