Threave Castle
On the River Dee in Dumfries & Galloway
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Threave was the main stronghold of the Black Douglases, built by Archibald the Grim in 1369.
The long and bloody history of the Black Douglases is too long to tell here but it's a fascinating tale winding through Scottish history and monarchy for centuries.
At just under 100ft high Threave is pretty massive and it's built on an island in the River Dee which added greatly to the security. This didn't prevent the forces of James II (of Scotland) taking the castle in 1455 after a long siege.
The castle later had fortifications added - advanced for their time - that kept it secure right up to 1640. The castle was finally abandoned around 1800.
Other related pages are linked to below.
Castle Douglas, the nearby town, doesn't in fact have a castle, just to confuse people, but it was the commercial centre of the area that Threave commanded.
As you can see in the first and last photos the castle is accessed by boat across the Dee. There's a car park and information centre (not shown) just off the A75 west of Castle Douglas. Currently in the hands of Historic Scotland and open to visitors.
The long and bloody history of the Black Douglases is too long to tell here but it's a fascinating tale winding through Scottish history and monarchy for centuries.
At just under 100ft high Threave is pretty massive and it's built on an island in the River Dee which added greatly to the security. This didn't prevent the forces of James II (of Scotland) taking the castle in 1455 after a long siege.
The castle later had fortifications added - advanced for their time - that kept it secure right up to 1640. The castle was finally abandoned around 1800.
Other related pages are linked to below.
Castle Douglas, the nearby town, doesn't in fact have a castle, just to confuse people, but it was the commercial centre of the area that Threave commanded.
As you can see in the first and last photos the castle is accessed by boat across the Dee. There's a car park and information centre (not shown) just off the A75 west of Castle Douglas. Currently in the hands of Historic Scotland and open to visitors.
