Blackness Castle
★★★☆☆
Blackness Castle is a 15th-century fortress, 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.
The castle, together with the Crichton lands, passed to James II of Scotland in 1453, and the castle has been crown property ever since. Strengthened in the mid-16th century, the castle became one of the most advanced artillery fortifications of its time in 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".
The castle, together with the Crichton lands, passed to James II of Scotland in 1453, and the castle has been crown property ever since. Strengthened in the mid-16th century, the castle became one of the most advanced artillery fortifications of its time in 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".