Tour Scotland Video Dunnottar Castle

Tour Scotland windy day video of Dunnottar Castle, Scotland. A ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky outcrop on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven. Dunnottar was besieged by Montrose in 1645, and again in 1651 by Cromwell.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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October 14th Photographs Dunnottar Castle Scotland

October 14th photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This Scottish Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a precipitous rocky headland on the north east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven.


October 14th photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Annals of Ulster record a siege of Dún Fother in 681, the earliest written reference to the site. Dunnottar is also a mentioned site for a battle between King Donald II and the Danish Vikings in 900 AD, and a raid into Scotland via land and sea by King Aethelstan of Wessex in 934 included an attack on Dunnottar. William the Lion used Dunnottar as an administrative complex. King Domnall II was the first man to have been called rí Alban, King of Alba), when he died at Dunnottar in 900 AD. All his predecessors styled themselves as either King of the Picts or King of Fortriu.


October 14th photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but an important fortress certainly existed on this site from Dark Age times.


October 14th photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.


October 14th photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.


October 14th photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. 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.


October 14th photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Mary Queen of Scots visited Dunnottar in the years 1562 and 1564.


October 14th photograph of Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. William Wallace is said to have led the Scots to victory over the English at Dunnottar in 1296.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

Portions of the 1990 film Hamlet starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close were shot at Dunnottar Castle. Acclaimed director Franco Zeffirelli teamed with Mel Gibson for this energetic, earthy adaptation of the classic Shakespeare tragedy. From study abroad, the young Prince of Denmark returns home to find his mother has married his uncle, and his father's ghost is urging him to action; but what action? Gibson brings real gusto to Hamlet's anguish, and makes this full-blooded translation roar with life. Glenn Close, as his mother, and Helena Bonham Carter, as Ophelia, both lend excellent support. This is Shakespeare with teeth; it should please both students and casual filmgoers. Hamlet [DVD] [1990].

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Tour Scotland Photograph Video of Dunnottar Castle

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.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.