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Publication Account

Date 1985

Event ID 1016565

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016565

The castle at Bothwell has been described by Douglas Simpson as 'among the foremost secular structures of the Middle Ages in Scotland', and, despite its ruined state, it still remains one of the most imposing of Scotland's earlier medieval castles. Originally planned by Waiter de Moravia (Moray), who acquired the estate in 1242, it was laid out on a grand scale but was apparently only pat1ially completed before the outbreak of the Wars ofIndependence (1296-1357) when it was twice besieged and deliberately dismantled in order to deny it to the English. In 1337, after demolition for a second time, the castle appears to have been abandoned until about 1362. It was then acquired by Archibald 'the Glim', 3rd Earl of Douglas who initiated an extensive programme of rebullding which continued into the early 15th century. In 1669 Bothwell again changed hands, this time passing to the 1st Earl of Forfar who built a new house to the east and partially dismantled the castle to provide stone for the new building.

As originally conceived in the mid 13th century, the castle was to comprise a five-sided enceinte with circular angle-towers, a square side-tower, a stoutly defended gatehouse and, dominating the whole structure, a massive round keep or donjon. The more vulnerable east side had the added protection ofIarge earthworks, the north arm of which hooked round the gateway forcing attackers to approach from the south-east, thus exposing themselves to flanking fire from the wall-head. Only the keep, south-east wing wall and angle-tower, however, were completed; the remainder rose little further than foundation level. The keep is a particularly fine example and rivals the best work in England and France.

It was not until the late 14th century that the enceinte was completed in stone, probably for Archibald the Grim. The sequence of building, deliberate demolition and rebuilding has made the interpretation of the fbric fraught with difficulty, but recent excavation has helped to solve some of the outstanding problems, as well as bringing to light an important collection of medieval pottery. Many of the vessels were complete and show that, although the forms of the jugs and other pots are of types found in northern England, they were, in fact, produced locally.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).

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