The Trebuchet
To breach the walls of a castle as mighty as Urquhart, an attacker needed siege engines. Most fearsome was the trebuchet, a type of giant catapult that could hurl massive stone balls hundreds of metres.
There is no record of trebuchets being used against Urquhart, but 11 rough-hewn stone balls were found here. They may have been used as projectiles 700 years ago during the Wars of Independence when the strategically important castle switched hands several times. The English King Edward I often used siege engines against Scottish castles.
Did You Know ...
Two full-sized trebuchets were built here by woodworkers from Europe and the United States for a television recording in 1998. The siege engines used 11-metre-long timbers and a seven-tonne counterweight to throw stone balls through a reconstructed rampart.
'He was erecting three other engines, very large, of great power and very destructive, which cut down and cleave whatever they strike.'
An account of the English siege of Caerlaverock Castle, south-west Scotland, in 1300.
Military Hardware
A trebuchet throws a stone ball by swinging it in a net through 270 degrees at the end of a long, wooden arm. The fall of a heavy counterweight powers the motion.
Teams of craftsmen led
by engineers built trebuchets from timber, rope, cord, animal hide, lead, iron and stone. When dismantled they could be transported by boat.
The siege engines used during the Wars of Independence were given names like War Wolf, Le Vikere (the vicar) and Berfrey (bell tower).
( photo caption )
- Left: An artist's impression of an army using trebuchets to besiege Urquhart Castle.
- Above: One of the replica trebuchets built at Urquhart in 1998 was taken to Caerlaverock Castle.
- Above: Stone balls found in the castle.
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