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Bothwell Castle

No Class (event) (period Unassigned)
Bothwell Castle
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What is recorded here

Bothwell Castle is a ruined medieval fortress on a steep Clyde bank in South Lanarkshire, begun in the 13th century by Walter de Moravia to guard a river crossing. It changed hands repeatedly during the Wars of Scottish Independence, surviving sieges, English occupation and Scottish recapture before becoming a rectangular ruin with a broken donjon and later Great Hall. Its stones still mark a place where control of the Clyde decided whether Scotland kept itself.
Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Bothwell Castle as No Class (event) (period Unassigned). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 100m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.
Bothwell Castle was built by the de Balliol family in the late 12th or early 13th century and later held by the Douglas family, becoming a key stronghold in the Wars of Scottish Independence. It is remembered for its strategic importance and the infamous "Black Dinner" in 1400, where the Douglas heirs were murdered on the orders of King Robert III of Scotland.

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Photo: Alex McGregor · CC BY-SA 2.0