Forgot my camera so made do with my phone camera on a recent visit to Bothwell Castle near Uddingston in the west of Scotland.
Of the various castles I've traipsed around over the past few months, this has to be the most stereotypical castle so far. It's a ruin, but with interesting and differently dated bits and pieces. It also has a fascinating history dating back to the 1200's when building began on an ambitious scale and replacing an earlier wooden structure.
All this architectural grandeur was interrupted by that pain in the neck Edward 1 of England. Thus Bothwell Castle featured in the Wars of Independence being seiged, besieged and captured back and forth between sundry Edwards, and the Moray's, companions to Wallace.
The castle is being repaired and some parts of the tower can't be accessed because of the scaffolding.
After peace broke out the Earls of Douglas took over the castle and the colourfully named Archibald the Grim began a programme of rebuilding the castle.
The castle is in a particularly strategic point, which is simply not obvious today, at least to me. But it is next to the river Clyde and guarded a major crossing point over the river that could be used by advancing English invaders during the Wars of Independence. Today, of course, it looks like a very nice ruin built from warm red sandstone sited amidst a peaceful landscape with mature trees and the river running past.
View of the postern gate with the river Clyde at the bottom of the slope.
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