'The Most Magnificent Ruin in Scotland'

'The Most Magnificent Ruin in Scotland' (HM1NOE)

Location: Bothwell G71 8BL South Lanarkshire
Country: United Kingdom
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N 55° 48.572', W 4° 5.697'

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Inscription

Bothwell Castle

Torn apart by the Wars of Independence, this stalwart castle survived siege after siege. Rebuilt, it became an imposing noble and royal stronghold.

Castle Highlights
1. Donjon, William Murray's grand residence.
2. Prison tower with a miserable pit-prison in the basement.
3. South-east tower, crowned with an elaborate corbelled parapet.
4. Great hall, the main banqueting room.

Status Symbol
Bothwell was designed as a high status residence for a high powered family. Walter Murray inherited the land in 1242 from his father-in-law, Walter Olifard, and wanted a grand residence to befit the family's high social status. However, his plans were never finished, possibly interrupted by Edward I's English invasion in 1296.

Timeline
1242
Walter Murray
begins building the mighty castle.

1296
Edward I
of England takes Bothwell during his first invasion of Scotland.

1301
Attacked Again
as Edward I deploys a great siege tower called 'le befefrey' (belfry).

1337
Scottish Defenders
dismantled the castle to prevent further English attacks.

1455
James II
overthrows the Black Douglas owners and Bothwell becomes a royal castle.

Late 1600's
Bothwell House
replaces the now dilapidated castle.

(Captions)
The yellow areas show the sections of the castle that remained unfinished.
Details
HM NumberHM1NOE
Tags
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, September 6th, 2015 at 5:02pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)30U E 431376 N 6185423
Decimal Degrees55.80953333, -4.09495000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 55° 48.572', W 4° 5.697'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds55° 48' 34.32" N, 4° 5' 41.82" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 52 Castle Ave, Bothwell G71 8BL, GB
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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