Blackness Castle Blackness Castle is a 15th - century fortress , near the village of Blackness , Scotland , on the south shore of the Firth of Forth . It was built , probably on the site of an earlier fort , by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s . At this time , Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow , one of the main residences of the Scottish monarch . The castle , together with the Crichton lands , passed to King James II of Scotland in 1453 , and the castle has been crown property ever since . It served as a state prison , holding such prisoners as Cardinal Beaton , and the 6th Earl of Angus . Strengthened by Sir James Hamilton of Finnart in the mid - 16th century , the castle became one of the most advanced artillery fortifications of its time in Scotland . A century later , these defences were not enough to prevent Blackness falling to Oliver Cromwell ' s army in 1650 . Some years after the siege , the castle was repaired , and again served as a prison and a minor garrison . In 1693 , the spur protecting the gate was heightened , and the Stern Tower shortened as a base for three heavy guns . Barracks and officers ' quarters were added in the 1870s , when the castle was used as an ammunition depot , until 1912 . The castle was briefly reused by the army during the First World War . It is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument , in the care of Historic Scotland . Because of its site , jutting into the Forth , and its long , narrow shape , the castle has been characterised as " the ship that never sailed " . The north and south towers are often named " stem " and " stern " , with the central tower called the " main mast " . History . Origins . The barony of Blackness was held in the mid - 15th century by Sir George Crichton , Lord High Admiral of Scotland , Sheriff of Linlithgow , and later Earl of Caithness . The Crichton s were one of the most politically powerful Scottish families at the time , and were close to James II ; Sir George was governor of Stirling Castle when the King murdered the 8th Earl of Douglas there in 1452 , and George ' s cousin , William , was Chancellor of Scotland from 1439 to 1453 . The castle was probably built in the mid - 1440s , during a time of feuding between the Crichtons and the " Black " Douglases , which had resulted in the destruction of Sir George ' s tower at Barnton in Edinburgh in 1444 . Blackness Castle is first mentioned in 1449 , and was already serving as a state prison as well as Sir George ' s residence . The original building comprised a curtain wall and the north tower , with the central tower isolated in the central courtyard . A hall range may have stood to the south , while the whole was defended by a rock - cut ditch and accessed by a gate in the east wall . Sir George Crichton handed over the Crichton lands , including Blackness Castle , to James II in 1453 . His dispossessed heir , James Crichton , captured the castle and held it briefly against the King , who besieged and recaptured it the same year . Blackness became a royal fortress , as well as continuing to serve as a prison , and was put into the care of a keeper , who was often the Sheriff of Linlithgow . In the 17th century , this office became hereditary in the Livingstone family . Fortification and destruction . Between 1534 and 1540 , a programme of fortification was carried out under the direction of the King ' s Master of Works , Sir James Hamilton of Finnart . Finnart , the illegitimate son of the Earl of Arran , was an expert in artillery fortification . Having spent time in Europe studying the subject , he designed his own castle at Craignethan in Lanarkshire as a showcase for his ideas . At Blackness , he introduced technological innovations including a complex entrance with a caponier , one of only three surviving in Scotland ( the others being at Craignethan and Stirling Castle ) . The caponier , a passage within the external wall of the entrance , allowed defenders to fire into the entrance area , at the backs of any attackers who had breached the gate . The curtain wall was thickened on the inside to the south and east , from 1 . 5m ( 5 feet ) to over 5m ( 16 feet ) in places , and gun ports were opened up . The south wall was also heightened to enclose the new south tower . Work continued after Finnart ' s execution for treason in 1540 , under the superintendence of the parson of Dysart , but came to a halt in 1542 on the death of James V , although minor works continued into the 1560s . During the crisis of the Scottish Reformation the castle was surrendered by negotiation to James Hamilton , Duke of Châtellerault as leader of the Lords of the Congregation . Two English captains , Dethick and Wood , then took possession on Easter Day , 15 April 1560 . During the Marian civil war which followed the forced abdication of Mary , Queen of Scots in 1567 , the garrison of Blackness remained loyal to her . However , the Keeper , Alexander Stewart later changed sides to join the Regent Moray ' s party . In 1572 , Lord Claud Hamilton recaptured the castle for Mary , harrying shipping in the Forth until the following year , despite being blockaded . On 27 January 1573 , James Kirkcaldy , the brother of William Kirkcaldy of Grange who held Edinburgh Castle for Queen Mary , arrived at Blackness from France with arms and money for the Queen ' s side . His ship was captured the next day and Regent Morton laid siege . James Kirkcaldy and the castle surrendered within a week . The castle ' s defences were not tested again until 1650 , when Oliver Cromwell ' s New Model Army besieged Blackness during his invasion of Scotland . However , by this time artillery technology had improved beyond anything that Finnart ' s defences could withstand , and the garrison soon surrendered under bombardment from land and sea . The damaged castle was abandoned . Later years . The castle was not repaired until 1667 , when it was again used as a prison , holding a number of Covenanter s ; religious rebels who opposed the King ' s interference in church affairs . The south tower was rearranged , with a bakehouse installed in the basement , and a new stair tower . Further changes were made in 1693 , when the spur was heightened with a wall - walk , and the north tower was reduced to provide three gun platforms overlooking the Forth . After the Union of Scotland and England in 1707 , the castle ceased to be a prison , instead being one of four Scottish fortresses to be maintained and garrisoned by the British Army , the others being Stirling , Dumbarton and Edinburgh . The garrison at Blackness numbered around fifteen men in the late 18th century . Between 1759 and 1815 Blackness was again pressed into service as a prison , this time to hold French prisoners of war during the series of conflicts of the late 18th and early 19th centuries , including the Seven Years ' War and the Napoleonic Wars . In 1870 , the role of Blackness changed again , and it became the central ammunition depot for Scotland . Numerous works were carried out , including the roofing - over of the entire courtyard , and the levelling of the ground to the east . The defensive ditch was filled in and barracks built to the south . The cast - iron pier was constructed in 1868 , with a gate and a drawbridge , one of the last to be built in Britain . The depot closed in 1912 , although it was briefly reoccupied during the First World War , and the castle passed into the care of the Office of Works . A restoration programme was undertaken between 1926 and 1935 , which entailed the removal of almost all the 19th - century works , and the rebuilding of medieval - style features , which may not fully reflect the original features of the castle . Description . The castle stands on a rocky spit in the Firth of Forth , and is oriented north - south . The castle comprises a curtain wall , with integrated north and south towers , and a separate central tower in the courtyard . To the south - west , a defensive spur forms the main entrance , while a water gate to the north - west gives access to the 19th - century pier . Outside the walls are 19th - century soldier ' s barracks and officer ' s quarters . The castle is said in popular legend to have a ley tunnel linking it with the House of the Binns , which lies about to the south . North and South Towers . Originally of three storeys , the small North , or Stem , Tower was reduced to two storeys in 1693 . The upper chamber had a fireplace , while the lower chamber was a pit prison . Accessed only from a trap - door above , this chamber has a drain opening to the sea , which washes in at high tide . The South , or Stern , Tower dates largely from the mid - 16th century , possibly replacing an earlier hall block . On the south wall , the 16th - century stonework was added onto the battlement s of the 15th - century curtain wall , leaving the pattern of alternating low and high sections " fossilised " in the wall . The tower is built over the thick - walled artillery positions in the basement , which defend the south and east approaches , and have similarities with the contemporary " blockhouse " at Dunbar Castle , further along the coast . The gunloops in the basement are up to across at the mouth . The South Tower provided the main accommodation in the castle , with chambers in the north - west wing , and a large hall on the upper storey . This hall was subdivided during the castle ' s time as an ammunition depot , although it has since been reinstated . In the 17th century , the large south - facing window was in use as a gun emplacement . Central Tower . The five - storey Central Tower , or " main mast " , was built in the 15th century and heightened in the 16th . It measures around 11x9 . 8m ( 36x32 feet ) , and the walls are 2 . 3m ( 7 . 5 feet ) thick at the base . Each storey contains a single large room with a fireplace , a garderobe or privy , and numerous chambers within the walls . The storeys were originally linked by a narrow spiral stair , until a larger stair tower was constructed at the east corner in the 17th century . The castle ' s more important prisoners were held here . Men such as Cardinal Beaton , Archbishop of St Andrews and James V ' s ambassador to France , and Archibald Douglas , 6th Earl of Angus , regent of Scotland in the 1520s , would have had a reasonably high standard of living , including their own servants , while in prison . The basement is vaulted , and the roof is also built on a stone vault . The parapet was rebuilt in the 20th century , although the course of projecting corbel s on which is stands is original . Outside the tower is a well . Spur . The 16th - century forework , or " spur " , which provides additional protection for the main gate , is largely the work of Sir James Hamilton of Finnart , and contains numerous defensive features . Originally a rock ditch ran in front of the entrance , and was crossed by a drawbridge . The original 1693 yett , a latticed iron gate , is still in place . Once through the entrance , any attacker would have had to negotiate a dog - leg passage , exposing his back to fire from the caponier . Part of this passage was also exposed to attack from the parapet walk on the upper storey . In the late 17th century , the spur was heightened , and gun batteries added above . Modern use . Since the castle ' s restoration , it has been open to the public as a historic monument . The buildings of the castle stand empty , although there is a small exhibition in the former barracks outside . The castle has been used as a filming location in several productions , including Franco Zeffirelli ' s " Hamlet " ( 1990 ) , Bob Carruthers 1996 film " The Bruce " , a BBC / A & E television miniseries of " Ivanhoe " ( 1997 ) , and the science - fiction film " Doomsday " ( 2008 ) .