List of castles in Scotland

List of castles in Scotland
This is a list of castles in Scotland. A castle is a type of fortified structure built primarily during the Middle Ages. Scholars debate the scope of the word "castle", but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a fortress, which was not a home, although this distinction is not absolute and the same structure may have had different uses from time to time. The term has been popularly applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms.
In Scotland, earlier fortifications had included hill forts, brochs, and duns; and many castles were on the site of these earlier buildings. The first castles were built in Scotland in the 11th and 12th centuries, with the introduction of Anglo-Norman influence. These motte and bailey castles were replaced with the first stone-built castles from around 1200.
By the late 14th century, the large curtain-walled castles had begun to give way to more modest tower houses – vertical dwellings with less formidable defences. This type of vertical house continued to be popular with Scotland's landowning class through to the late 17th century, when classical architecture made its first appearance in the country. Meanwhile, the advance of artillery pressed military engineers to devise stronger fortifications for important royal strongholds.
Tower houses and castles were often given painted ceilings and decorative plasterwork in the 16th and 17th centuries, employing distinctive national styles. In the late 18th century, forms found in medieval Scottish architecture were revived and castle-style houses were constructed. These "castles" had no defensive capability, but drew on military and tower house architecture for their decorative details. This architectural trend culminated in the Scottish Baronial style of the 19th century.
There have been well over two thousand castles in Scotland, although many are known only through historical records. They are found in all parts of the country although tower houses and peel towers are concentrated along the border with England, while the best examples of larger Renaissance-era tower houses are clustered in the north-east. There is some discussion about whether Scottish castles can be considered to be "true" castles, although this discussion is mainly focused around opinions held by some scholars as per the exact scope of the word castle.
Lists by council area
See the individual council area lists for details of castles in each area:
List of castles in Aberdeen
List of castles in Aberdeenshire
List of castles in Angus
List of castles in Argyll and Bute
List of castles in Clackmannanshire
List of castles in Dumfries and Galloway
List of castles in Dundee
List of castles in East Ayrshire
List of castles in East Dunbartonshire
List of castles in East Lothian
List of castles in East Renfrewshire
List of castles in Edinburgh
List of castles in Falkirk (council area)
List of castles in Fife
List of castles in Glasgow
List of castles in Highland
List of castles in Inverclyde
List of castles in Midlothian
List of castles in Moray
List of castles in North Ayrshire
List of castles in North Lanarkshire
List of castles in Orkney
List of castles in the Outer Hebrides
List of castles in Perth and Kinross
List of castles in Renfrewshire
List of castles in the Scottish Borders
List of castles in Shetland
List of castles in South Ayrshire
List of castles in South Lanarkshire
List of castles in Stirling (council area)
List of castles in West Dunbartonshire
List of castles in West Lothian
Fictional castles
McDuck Castle, home of Disney cartoon character Scrooge McDuck.
The Black Island, a comic of The Adventures of Tintin featuring a castle based on Lochranza Castle.
The Ghosts of Inverloch, a Valérian comic, also features a Scottish castle.
Castle Dangerous, a novel by Sir Walter Scott, drew inspiration from Douglas Castle.
Old Mortality, a novel by Sir Walter Scott, drew inspiration from Craignethan Castle as Tillietudlem Castle.
Hogwarts Castle, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter novels.
See also
Castles in the United Kingdom
List of castles
List of castles in England
List of castles in Wales
List of castles in Northern Ireland
List of castles in the Isle of Man
Historic houses in Scotland
List of town walls in Scotland
Restoration of castles in Scotland
Notes
References
Coventry, Martin (2001) The Castles of Scotland, 3rd Ed. Scotland: Goblinshead
Coventry, Martin (2010) Castles of the Clans Scotland: Goblinshead
Pattullo, Nan (1974) Castles, Houses and Gardens of Scotland Edinburgh: Denburn Press
External links
Scottish Castles Association
Castle Explorer
CastleStories - Google Map Explorer
Scottish castles guide
Interactive Scottish castle map (with links to Wikipedia articles of the castles and geo-links to Google maps earth view)
An index to castle ruins is in "Royal National Directory of Scotland" (1915).List of Castle ruins "Royal National Directory of Scotland" (1915) p.XIX
Castles in Scotland
Scotland