Dunnottar Castle, A Ravishing Legend

The walk from Stonehaven takes 30-45 minutes to reach Dunnottar Castle. Then you’re staring at one of Scotland’s most iconic views! It’s fun to ramble over the spongey clifftops to find all the amazing angles of the castle, but do take care as rabbits have been known to make their warrens underfoot and it can be quite a fall to rocks and sea below.

The descent and ascent to Dunnottar Castle will get the heart pumping, so prepare yourself for the series of stairs in front of you. As you approach the headland you will pass through an entrance tunnel to the first series of buildings (including the ticket office), which includes Wallace’s Postern, Benholm’s Lodging, the Gateway, and the Lion’s Den.

Legend has it that William Wallace, at age of 21, and his untrained army used this postern gate to access Dunnottar Castle and destroy the English garrison inside the castle. Today it’s used as a wishing well filled with a hoard of coins.

Once through the gate you come to the castle ruins proper. The keep or towerhouse stands nearest the mainland, glowering over the precarious spit of land, while nearby you’ll find the ruins of the stables and smithy. The eastern edge of the headland holds a collection of ruins including the West Range, North Range, East Range, well, and several suites. Most of these buildings hail from the 15th and 16th centuries, but Dunnottar Castle’s history is much older.

The rocks beneath Dunnottar Castle are 440 million years old and there’s evidence of Pictish habitation from the 3rd century AD on the Dunnicaer seastack north of the castle. There are references to a ‘Dún Foither’ in adjacent Dark Age texts that many believe to be Dunnottar, so when you walk between these buildings and gaze out to sea know that the ghosts of ages past stand shoulder to shoulder with you. It’s impossible to deny the incredible defensibility of Dunnottar Castle’s situation, and it seems the vikings were able to overcome said defenses when, in the 9th century, they invaded and killed King Donald II here.

Most of the ranges have had their roofs collapse over the centuries, but there are still several areas that are either partially underground or refurbished to provide a sense of what living in Dunnottar Castle must have been like. The Whigs’ Vault is a particularly ugly episode in Dunnottar Castle’s history. These Covenanters were apprehended for attending open-air religious services. They refused to sign an oath of abjuration and were confined to this prison where many died or were tortured for attempting to escape. Sounds like Dunnottar was the equivalent of a 17th-century Alcatraz.

Every window and ruin looks out onto beautiful coastal seascapes. Keep your eyes peeled for seals, water fowl, and sea mammals like dolphins as you explore.

The Drawing Room is a beautifully restored building with a stunning wood-panelled ceiling. This building, the Silver House, and Dunnottar’s Quadrangle are all lavish displays of the Earls Marischal’s wealth, who, for hundreds of years, were the Keiths.

Dunnottar Castle figures prominently in the British Civil War. Oliver Cromwell desperately sought to destroy the Honours of Scotland — a sword, sceptre, and crown. When Charles II was crowned on New Year’s Day 1651 the Honours were taken to Dunnottar Castle for safekeeping, a move that illustrates how Dunnottar Castle was viewed at the time (as a kind of Fort Knox). Later that year Cromwell besieged Dunnottar Castle and eventually forced the small garrison to surrender. To his delicious dismay the Honours were not here. It seems they had been smuggled out by a minster’s wife and buried in the nave of Kinneff Kirk further south along the coast.

There are many ruined castles in Scotland, wonderful places like Kildrummy, Ardvreck, Dunure, and Kilchurn, but none stand above Dunnottar Castle for sheer majesty, wonder, and beauty.

Dunnottar Castle is the jewel in the crown of Aberdeenshire. It, alone, warrants bending your travel plans to Scotland’s east coast, but it’s a vast place and you don’t want to short your visit. Plan for Dunnottar Castle to take the better part of half a day, and if you can visit early in the morning or at sunset you will be rewarded for your timing.