Blackness Castle
After one palace there is always another castle, especially when you´re in Scotland!
Blackness Castle looks across the River Forth to the naval dockyards of Rosyth, and along it to the Forth rail and two road bridges. The castle is first mentioned in 1449, although there had been a port at nearby Blackness serving the royal burgh of Linlithgow since the thirteenth century. (Undiscovered Scotland)
Built in the 1440s, probably on the site of a former fort, it was the main port for Linlithgow and also served as a prison. Even so, Blackness Castle was one of the most advanced artillery fortifications of its time in Scotland it felt to Cromwell´s army in 1650. A few years after the siege the castle was repaired and again served as a prison and a minor garrison.
On the screen
Today Blackness Castle is one of the many movies and tv shows locations in Scotland, recently used for “Outlander” by Starz, “Mary Queen Of Scots”, “Outlaw King”, “Hamlet”, “Ivanhoe” and many more.
View of the Forth Bridge crossing River Forth.
The ship that never sailed
The Inner Courtyard is mostly formed by natural rocks and the peculiar form of Blackness Castle, looking like a ship pointing out into the River Forth.
