Morton Castle
| Morton Castle | ||
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 Morton Castle South Wall |
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| Creation time : | 13-14 century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Standing position : | Scottish nobility | |
| Place: | Thornhill | |
| Geographical location | 55 ° 16 '28.1 " N , 3 ° 44' 51.2" W | |
| Height: | 181 m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference | |
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Morton Castle is the ruin of a low castle about 4 km northeast of Thornhill in the Scottish administrative unit Dumfries and Galloway . The castle ruins are located on an artificial lake in the hills above the valley of the Nith and were once part of a chain of castles along the strategically important Nith valley, which connects the Solway Firth to the north with the Clyde valley.
history
In the 12th century, the Morton Honor was owned by Dunegal, Lord of Strathnith . A moat south of the castle probably dates from this time, but could also be of natural origin. In the reign of King Robert the Bruce , Thomas Randolph , later 1st Earl of Moray , owned the lands of Morton. Certainly by 1307, but perhaps as early as the 1260s, a castle was built here on an easily defended headland in the middle of marshland. Randolph also had a fenced deer park built nearby.
The Treaty of Berwick , which ensured the release of King David II , also required the Scots to destroy 13 castles in the Nith Valley, including Morton Castle. However, it is not known how much of the original castle has been preserved and whether anything has survived at all.
The lands of Morton fell to the Earls of March , who had a new castle built or the old castle rebuilt in the early 15th century.
In the middle of the 15th century, King James II loaned the lands to James Douglas of Dalkeith , who later became Earl of Morton (although the Earldom is named after another Morton in Lothian ).
The 4th Earl of Morton was executed in 1580 for his suspected role in the murder of Lord Darnley and Morton Castle and the Earldom fell briefly to John Maxwell, 7th Lord Maxwell and grandson of the 3rd Earl. But in 1588, King James VI. an expedition against the Catholic Maxwells. Morton Castle was captured and burned to the ground, but returned to the hands of the Earls of Morton after the 4th Earl lifted it.
In 1608 the castle was sold to William Douglas of Coshogle , who 10 years later resold it to William Douglas of Drumlanrig , later the first Earl of Queensberry . In 1714 the castle was at least partially inhabited, but served more as a hunting lodge than a residence. In the 18th century, a dam was built to flood the marshland, creating an artificial lake that now encloses the castle ruins on three sides.
After the castle was abandoned in the 18th century, many of the building blocks were demolished until the 1890s; then some repairs were made to the ruins. Today the property is owned by the Duke of Buccleuch and managed by Historic Scotland . Morton Castle is a Scheduled Monument .
Construction year
There is a dispute about the exact year the castle was built. Gifford discusses the possibility that the defensive structure was derived from the original 14th century castle, which was then rebuilt as a hunting lodge in the 15th century. But he also concludes that it is not impossible that most of the castle dates back to the 15th century.
description
Architecturally, the castle shows some similarities to Caerlaverock Castle ; it has a triangular floor plan and twin gatehouses of the same type on the southwest corner. One of the D-shaped towers is up to four stories high and has a dungeon in the basement. Above that lay a number of rooms that presumably served as the lord's apartment, as a beautifully designed open fireplace in one of the rooms suggests. Only the foundation of the second gate tower has been preserved. The gate originally had a portcullis and a swing bridge over the moat .
This high level of defensive architecture contrasts with the main line of buildings in the south of the castle. The large, beautifully arched windows and the lack of loopholes suggest that this part of the building was either built or converted as a hunting lodge. The long, two-story block has a long hall on the first floor with rooms on the ground floor below. At its eastern end, a private room opened up from the hall, which was connected to rooms in the round southeast tower.
On the north side, the walls that ran along the edges of the marshland were removed so that the former courtyard is open.
swell
- John Gifford: Dumfries and Galloway (= The Buildings of Scotland. ). Penguin Books et al., London 1996, ISBN 0-14-071067-1 .
- John R. Hume: Dumfries and Galloway. An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Rutland Press, Edinburgh 2000, ISBN 1-873190-34-4 .
- Mike Salter: The Castles of South-West Scotland. Folly Publications, Malvern 1993, ISBN 1-871731-16-X .
- Scheduled Monument - entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- Entry on Morton Castle in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database
