In 1385 the English army under King Richard II sacked three of the monasteries along the line of Dere Street: these included Dryburgh and Melrose. The western entrance to the abbey church was rebuilt in the 15th century in part due to the award of properties by Richard III.
A window would have been placed immediately above the doorway.
Canrasserie Castle lies to the north of Kilmartin village. In February 1559 the castle was awarded to John Carswell (c. 1522–1572) [ODNB], the minister of Kilmartin. (Note the alternative spelling on the site sign.) In 1567 he was presented as bishop of the Isles. One of his main contributions was his translation of the Book of Common Order (1564) into Gaelic, Foirm na n-urrnuidheadh (1567).
The present castle was constructed between 1565 and 1572, replacing an earlier building. The castle was destroyed in 1685 during the rebellion of the 9th Earl of Argyll.
The visitor numbers for Leading Visitor Attractions in 2019 are now available. Properties managed by Historic Environment Scotland attracted over 5 million visitors in 2019. Top of the list is Edinburgh Castle with 2.2 million visitors, followed by Stirling Castle (609,000), Urquhart Castle (547,000) and Glasgow Cathedral (537,000). Skara Brae on Orkney received over 115,000 visitors, no doubt reflecting the presence of cruise ships.
The top six sites attract over 4 million visitors in 2019.
Historic Environment Scotland has released details of its plans to re-open the heritage sites in its care during August and September. From 15 July this includes the grounds of Caerlaverock, Doune and Dundonald Castles.
This is a variant of the more usual, ‘Danger. Do not climb on the walls’ sign (e.g. Bury St Edmunds Abbey; Hadleigh Castle; Kirkham Priory; Lindisfarne Priory; Pickering Castle; Warkworth Castle). Lindsifarne also has, ‘Danger. Do not climb’.
Access between the great cloister and the abbey church was by a processional doorway on the north side of the church. It was situated adjacent to the monks’ quire.
The joist holes supported the roof covering the walkways round the cloister.
The construction of roads transformed the landscape of Britain. Yet only a limited number of fragments have been placed in State Guardianship. One of the most dramatic sections is a stretch that crosses Wheeldale Moor in North Yorkshire.
A stretch of Dere Street near Soutra in Scotland has been preserved. This passed through Corbridge and Newstead.
Further south Dere Street crossed the river Tees at Piercebridge and remains of the bridge have been found.
A Roman milestone on the Stanegate near the fort of Vindolanda was placed in Guardianship.
The Outlander series of books and TV series is having an impact on visitor numbers at heritage sites in Scotland (“Outlander tourism effect a ‘double edged sword’“, BBC News 15 February 2020). Doune Castle is reported to have a 200 per cent increase, rising from 38,000 in 2013 to 142,000 in 2008. It is now the fifth most popular Historic Environment Scotland site.
Culloden, managed by the National Trust for Scotland, has also seen a large increase in visitor numbers to over 213,000 in 2018.
The Laird’s Lug in MacLellan’s Castle is located behind the fireplace in the main hall and would allow conversations to be overheard.
The combined guidebook for Cardoness and Carsluith Castles was published in 1996. It was prepared by Doreen Grove. Cardoness has sections on the story, short tour, and architecture of the castle; Carsluith just has two sections, the story and the architecture.
The revised guide was by Adrian Cox and Doreen Grove. There is some overlap, e.g. ‘The story of Cardoness Castle’ and ‘The Lordship of Cardoness’; the McCullochs of Cardoness. Some of the themes are continued, e.g. ‘The castle as a defence’, and ‘The castle as a residence’.
