- Location: Blackness, Linlithgow EH49 7NH
- Opening times: April – September, 10am – 5pm; October – March, 10am – 4pm
- Entry: Adult £7.50, child (7 – 15) £4.50, family £21.50, one adult family £15.00, concession £8.50. These prices are for April to September entry, and are reduced by 50p for October to March.
- Access: Free parking onsite
Blackness Castle. It sounds like the lair of some supervillain, like Doctor Doom or Skeletor. But in fact it was built, in the 1440s, by a man named George. Sir George Crichton, Admiral of Scotland, to be precise, although Crichton’s castle would have been a simple tower house with defensive wall and nothing near as imposing as the fortress we see today.
The original castle was possibly built as a replacement for Barnton Castle, which had been captured and destroyed by the 8th Earl of Douglas. It is safe to say the Crichton and the Douglas clans didn’t get on, as best exemplified by the infamous ‘Black Dinner’ of 1440 co-organised by George Crichton’s cousin William. In this dark episode of Scottish history, the sixteen-year-old 6th Earl of Douglas and his younger brother David were invited to dine with James II at Edinburgh Castle under the pretence of ending hostilities between clan and crown. However, it was a trap, and despite the protestations of the ten-year-old king, the two boys were dragged into a courtyard and beheaded.
Perhaps this is one reason why the adult king later demanded that George Crichton name him as his heir, and when George died in 1454 Blackness Castle became crown property. Thereafter it is put into the care of a succession of royal keepers, and the property was expanded and fortified over the decades and centuries; as early as 1543, English ambassador Sir Ralph Sadler was describing the castle as ‘impregnable’.
The castle may have had a number of royal visitors – James II upon taking ownership in 1454, James III in 1488, the infant Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543 – and records showthat James IV visited on at least three occasions. David Beaton, Archbishop of St. Andrews and bastion of Scottish Catholicism in the face of the Reformation, was briefly a prisoner here the same year the infant queen passed through its gates.
The castle continued as a military garrison into the twentieth century before being handed over to the blandly named Office of Works, who carried out extensive repair programs in the 1920s and 30s. It has since become a tourist attraction under the care of Historic Scotland and gained increased visibility – and popularity – due to its use as a location in the Starz television series Outlander, merchandise of which features heavily in the small onsite gift shop.
Blackness Castle also has a cool nickname, ‘the ship that never sailed’. This derives from the outline of its walls, which come together in a prow shape at the north tower, and the deportment of its buildings, all of which combine to make the castle look vaguely ‘ship-shape’, albeit a more modern vessel than those Admiral Chrichton would have been familiar with. The fact the castle juts out into the Forth river only adds to the allusion.
Destination or Diversion?
Whether its for the history, the views up and down the Forth, or because of the Outlander connection, a pleasing hour or two can be easily be whiled away at Blackness Castle, which also hosts the occasional exhibition in the south tower. If you are in the area, Blackness Castle would make for a perfect morning destination.
