Douglas Castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the town in Dumfries and Galloway, see Castle Douglas
Douglas Castle was a stronghold of the Douglas family from medieval times to the nineteenth century. The first castle, erected in the 13th century, was destroyed and replaced several times until the 18th century when a large mansion house was built in its place. This too was demolished in the 1940s, and today only a single corner tower of the 17th century castle remains.
The castle was located around 1km north-east of the village of Douglas, South Lanarkshire, south-west Scotland.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Douglas family were Anglo-Norman immigrants, granted lands on the Douglas Water. They built the first Douglas Castle, which was constructed of either wood or stone, sometime before 1288 [1]. In 1307, during the Wars of Scottish Independence the castle was captured and garrisoned by the English under Lord Clifford. Sir James Douglas, companion of Robert the Bruce successfully recaptured his family seat by storming the castle on Palm Sunday, while the garrison were at chapel. he had the garrison killed and thrown into a cellar, before the structure was burned. The event has become known as "Douglas' larder".
Robert the Bruce rewarded the loyalty of the Douglases, and Sir James' descendants were created Earls of Douglas. Douglas Castle was rebuilt as one of their seats, but by the 15th century, the power of the "Black" Douglases had come to threaten the Stewart monarchy. In 1455 James II led an expedition against the rebellious 9th Earl, defeating his forces at the battle of Arkinholm. Douglas Castle was sacked and the family's lands and titles forfeited.
The "Red" Douglases, Earls of Angus, had sided with the king against the senior branch of their family, and it was they who gained the Douglas lands in Lanarkshire. It is likely that the castle was rebuilt soon after 1455. In 1703, Archibald Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Douglas was created Duke of Douglas, with his principal seat at Douglas Castle. The castle was again rebuilt around this time, as a tower house and an enclosed courtyard with a corner tower. This castle was destroyed by fire in 1755, with the exception of the corner tower [2].
From 1757, the Duke began construction of a large castellated mansion at Douglas. The architects of this, the final Douglas Castle, were the Adam Brothers. The five storey building had round towers to the front and square towers to the rear facade, with landscaped grounds laid out around it. The Duke of Douglas died only four years later, resulting in the extinction of the dukedom. Douglas Castle passed to the Earls of Home, but was demolished in the 1940s, due to subsidence caused by coal mining in the area.
[edit] The castle today
Today, only a ruined corner tower of the penultimate castle remains, built in the late 17th century. Three storeys and 9m in height, the tower once stood at the corner of an enclosure, estimated at around 40m across. The tower stands on a prominent rise in the valley, to the south of the river, and was retained as a garden folly when the later mansion was built. Below is a small cellar block with glazed tiles on the interior walls. Nothing visible remains of the mansion.
Sir Walter Scott used the location and early history of Castle Douglas as the inspiration for his novel Castle Dangerous. The castle is still sometimes referred to by this alternative name.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Salter (1993) states that the castle was "mentioned in 1288", but no source is given.
- ^ The Listed Building Report for the structure gives the date of the fire as 1758.
[edit] References
- Coventry, Martin The Castles of Scotland (3rd Edition), Goblinshead, 2001
- Mason, Gordon The Castles of Glasgow and the Clyde, Goblinshead, 2000
- Salter, Mike The Castles of South West Scotland, Folly Publications, 1993
- Historic Scotland Listed Building Report [1]
- National Monuments Record of Scotland Site Reference NS83SW 4 [2]
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
