Photos and the City

Category: In The Movies

Blackness Castle

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.

28/03/2019
Linlithgow Palace

It was about time to leave Western Scotland and cross over to the Eastern side, to my second to last Scottish home. But as always I fit in some stops along the way. The first one, the very impressive ruin of Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.

Situated between the town of Linlithgow and Loch Linlithgow the Palace was the perfect stopping point between Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle, it was favoured residence of the Stewart kings and queens from James I.

In September 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie visited the Palace on is march down south this fountain was made to flow with wine in his honour, shortly after that in 1746 the Government troops destroyed most of the Palace buildings.

A royal manor house probably existed on this site from the mid-twelfth century, when Kind David I founded the burgh. Linlithgow’s position made it an ideal site for a military base, and in 1302 the English king set about transforming it into a secure stronghold built mostly of earth and wood. (Marie-Stuart.co.uk)

1424 a disastrous fire destroyed most of the town and the royal manor. James I, immediately started to rebuild the church of St. Michael and Linlithgow Palace as a grand residence for Scottish royalty. The following kinds made significant additions.

After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the Royal Court became largely based in England and Linlithgow was used very little. Parts of the Palace started to collapse. King James then had it renovated and rebuilt.

26/03/2019
Lacock Abbey

Even so, Lacock Abbey was closed (because of the snow) the grounds were open and one could walk around the park, which a lot of people and their dogs did. The weather was just too nice! A real winter wonderland, snow and sunshine.

Lacock Abbey was founded in the early 13th century by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, as a nunnery of the Augustinian order and dissolved in 1539. Later it became a stunning country house of various architectural styles with lots of grounds.

The house was built over the old cloisters and its main rooms are on the first floor. It is a stone house with stone slated roofs, twisted chimney stacks and mullionedwindows. Throughout the life of the building, many architectural alterations, additions, and renovations have occurred so that the house is a mish-mash of different periods and styles. The Tudor stable courtyard to the north of the house has retained many of its original features including the brewhouse and bakehouse. (wikipedia)

In the 19th century, Lacock Abbey was the residence and home of William Henry Fox Talbot famous for his contributions towards the invention of the photographic negative. (Visit Wiltshire) Fox Talbot invented the salted paper and calotype processes. He was actually the first to invent a process for creating reasonably light-fast and permanent photographs but Daguerre had beat him with the announcement.

Today Fox Talbots inventions and works as a photographer are celebrated and highlighted in a museum in the Abbey.

Like the village, Lacock Abbey has been used for various movies and tv shows like Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, Emma, The Other Boleyn Girl, Downton Abbey, Wolf Hall, Pride and Prejudice, Wolfman and more

14/03/2019