Muness Castle

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Muness Castle
Interior of Muness Castle

Muness Castle is a ruined castle on the Scottish Shetland island of Unst in the small village of Uyeasound on the south coast of the island. The facility is classified as a Scheduled Monument . It is the northernmost castle in the British Isles.

history

Laurence Bruce , a descendant of Robert the Bruce and half-brother of Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney , who had Scalloway Castle built on Mainland a few years later , had Muness Castle built in 1598. Bruce was previously a Laird in Perthshire but fled to the Shetland Islands after murdering an adversary. For the construction was Andrew Crawford committed that built later among other Scalloway Castle, which is why both have buildings similarities. As Laird, Bruce was responsible for taxation in his area of ​​responsibility. Bruce was unpopular among residents of the islands after manipulating the reference weights on his scales to generate a higher tax profit. Bruce was tried in Tingwall , as a result of which he was stripped of his status.

In 1627 Muness Castle was burned down by Dutch privateers from Dunkirk . In 1713 the Dutch East India Company used the structure to store the salvaged cargo from the ship Rynenburgh . Muness Castle was finally abandoned around 1750. The attic was destroyed and the stones extracted were probably used to build the enclosure wall.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scheduled Monument - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ a b Entry in the Gazetteer for Scotland
  3. ^ John GF Moodie Heddle, T. Mainland: Orkney and Shetland (= Cambridge County Geographies. Scotland. ). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1920, p. 154, (reprint: ibid 2012, ISBN 978-1-107-64616-2 ).
  4. ^ Mary E. Cumming Bruce: Family Records of the Bruces and the Cumyns. W. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh et al. 1870, p. 338 .
  5. ^ Julian Holland: Exploring the Islands of Scotland. Frances Lincoln Ltd, London 2008, ISBN 978-0-7112-2758-3 , p. 150.

Web links

Commons : Muness Castle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 60 ° 41 ′ 19.4 "  N , 0 ° 50 ′ 56.7"  W.