Publication drawing; plan, longitudinal section and cross-sections, Mine and Countermine, St Andrews Castle.

Description Publication drawing; plan, longitudinal section and cross-sections, Mine and Countermine, St Andrews Castle.

Date c. 1926

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 374867

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of FID 144/12

Scope and Content Plans and sections of counter-mine and surviving portion of mine, St Andrews Castle, Fife St Andrews Castle, the seat of the bishop of St Andrews, was destroyed during the Wars of Independence and rebuilt in its present form by Bishop Traill (1385-1401). It was besieged in 1546-7 after Protestants assassinated Cardinal Beaton. During the 1346-7 siege, the defenders realised the attackers were digging a mine. Using trial shafts to locate it by sound, and with two false starts, they dug a counter-mine to stop the miners from undermining, or perhaps blowing up, the walls. The mine and counter-mine at St Andrews Castle are the only surviving examples of a common medieval siege technique whereby attackers tried to tunnel under the walls, and the defenders tried to head them off with a counter-mine. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Scale 1":9', 1":4'

External Reference Inv. fig. 423

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/374867

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap