Rothesay Castle (1)
The gatehouse and castle from the north-east.
This is a very fine castle, of great architectural interest and with a long and stirring history. I don't think most of my photos do it justice, but I have tried to pick out the best of the bunch. I'll start with the best one!
Rothesay Castle stands right in the centre of the town, although somewhat further from the shore line than it used to (presumably it is the shore that has moved not the castle!). The site was chosen because there was a low rocky mound upon which to build. The more interesting question is why build a major fortress here on out-of-the-way Bute in the first place? There are probably two answers to that:
Firstly, possession of Bute was for centuries very desirable to both the Scots on the mainland and the Norsemen that occupied all the other Western Isles, not only because it was more fertile than most of the other isles, but more importantly because it was strategically important to them both. The Scots didn't want the Norse right on their backdoor step (particularly when the English were knocking on the front door), and were reluctant to venture further west leaving occupied Bute behind them. For the Norse, Bute gave their longships an ideal base from which to prey upon all shipping using the Clyde and plying the Ayrshire coast, as well as the perfect jumping off point for military expeditions onto the mainland.
The second reason for such a major fortress being built here is that Bute was an important Stewart possession.
Rothesay Castle (1)
The gatehouse and castle from the north-east.
This is a very fine castle, of great architectural interest and with a long and stirring history. I don't think most of my photos do it justice, but I have tried to pick out the best of the bunch. I'll start with the best one!
Rothesay Castle stands right in the centre of the town, although somewhat further from the shore line than it used to (presumably it is the shore that has moved not the castle!). The site was chosen because there was a low rocky mound upon which to build. The more interesting question is why build a major fortress here on out-of-the-way Bute in the first place? There are probably two answers to that:
Firstly, possession of Bute was for centuries very desirable to both the Scots on the mainland and the Norsemen that occupied all the other Western Isles, not only because it was more fertile than most of the other isles, but more importantly because it was strategically important to them both. The Scots didn't want the Norse right on their backdoor step (particularly when the English were knocking on the front door), and were reluctant to venture further west leaving occupied Bute behind them. For the Norse, Bute gave their longships an ideal base from which to prey upon all shipping using the Clyde and plying the Ayrshire coast, as well as the perfect jumping off point for military expeditions onto the mainland.
The second reason for such a major fortress being built here is that Bute was an important Stewart possession.