Tour Scotland photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Scotland. A ruined medieval fortress located upon a precipitous rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven. Its surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but an important fortress certainly existed on this site from Dark Age times. Dunnottar played an important role in the history of Scotland from the Middle Ages through to the Enlightenment, due to its strategic location overlooking the shipping lanes to northern Scotland and also being situated on a fairly narrow coastal terrace that controlled land movements, particularly the land access to the ancient Causey Mounth, the only medieval route from the coastal south via Portlethen Moss to Aberdeen.
The ruins of the castle are spread over a three acre area virtually surrounded by sheer cliffs which drop to the North Sea 150 feet below. This L plan castle is accessed via a narrow strip of land joining the mainland and a steep path leading up to the massive gatehouse. The cliffs and headland formations which extend miles to the north and south are home to tens of thousands of pelagic birds, making this stretch of Scottish coast a notable bird sanctuary of northern Europe from the standpoint of total bird populations and diversity of species. Portions of the 1990 film Hamlet starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close were shot there. An episode of The US Television show The Amazing Race featured Dunnottar Castle. Scotland's Castles.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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