Tour Scotland travel video of Blackness Castle on the south shore on ancestry, history and trip to Firth of Forth in West Lothian. This castle was built, probably on the site of an earlier fortress, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. In the TV show Outlander, Blackness Castle features as Fort William, the garrison fortress under the command of Black Jack Randall. 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, though, these defences were not enough to prevent Blackness falling to Oliver Cromwell's army in 1650.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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