Dunnottar – The Castle Without Walls

Following the footpath towards the cliff, the first glimpse of Dunnottar Castle is as a cluster of brownish-grey buildings atop a massive stump of rock projecting from the waves of the cold North Sea – solitary, aloof, with only the call of seabirds for company.

No outer walls block the view of the castle tower and the later more stylish buildings. For Dunnottar has no walls, no ramparts. It needs none – the sheer cliffs on all sides are a much more formidable barrier than anything the medieval masons could have contrived. It is truly a castle without walls.

A view of Dunnottar Castle from the mainland

Getting closer, one sees a narrow neck of land joining the promontory to the mainland, a winding path that dives down the cliff only to rise under the brooding view of the castle gatehouse, the only truly fortified part of fortress. The way in by land is narrow and well guarded by the shades of garrisons long gone. The sea approaches are just as dangerous, but here the hazard is the crashing waves of the chill unforgiving sea.

Dunnottar Castle is a unique place, recognised as an ideal spot for a stronghold for well over a millennia. Built on a rocky outcrop in the sea just to the south of Stonehaven, in northeast Scotland, it was fortified in Pictish times, when Saxons threatened from the south and Scots-Irish from the west, and when Vikings raided from across the North Sea. It is mentioned in records from the 900s AD, with possible references as far back as the 7th century.

Once one has climbed the narrow path to the gatehouse and passed through a tunnel faced by cannon loopholes, one comes out in an open green, with the keep to one’s right and facing some splendid ruined accommodation wings. The latter buildings are 15th or 16th century, built in that particular Scottish style with stepped gables. The keep, or tower, is older – probably 14th century. Nothing remains above ground of the Dark Ages Pictish and the early Medieval phases, though there have been some archaeological investigations.

Residential wing from the 15th or 16th century

The 14th century square keep or tower, with some outbuildings in the foreground

There are three incidents to do with Dunnottar worth recounting. The first is the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace attacking the English garrison there in 1296, defeating them, then burning the survivors to death in the castle chapel. The second is that the Scottish crown jewels were kept there during part of the English Civil War (which involved Scotland too). When the Parliamentarian army besieged the castle, the crown jewels were smuggled out down the cliffs to the local Kineff church, where the minister’s wife, Mrs Grainger, hid them under the bed until they were buried under the church floor, keeping them out of English hands. The third incident is the horrible incarceration of 125 men and 45 women in the infamous Whigs’ Vault for six weeks.

The infamous Whigs’s Vault where 170 people were imprisoned for six weeks

Here, in 1685, these 170 people were imprisoned for a month and half without sanitation, having to buy what food and water they could from the jailors. Twenty-five men tried to escape down the cliffs. Two fell to their deaths, fifteen were captured escaping and tortured and only eight got away. Still others died in the vault from the awful conditions. After the six weeks the survivors were put onboard a ship and banished to New England, about seventy more dying on the journey. Their crime: being associated with Presbyterian groups who didn’t want the king to be head of the Church of Scotland, and on unproven suspicion of planning rebellion.

Dunnottar Castle is privately owned but open to the public. There is a small fee for entrance, but it is well worth it in my opinion.

If you liked this, please check out my article on another castle in the northeast of Scotland – Edzell Castle: http://trifter.com/europe/united-kingdom/edzell-castle-and-walled-garden-scotland