Elgin Castle

Elgin Castle Details

Elgin Castle, hilltop ruins of royal Castle built C12 and destroyed C15, possibly on site of earlier fort

  • Closest To: Elgin
  • Access: Free Public Access
  • Grid Reference: NJ211628

Elgin Castle must have once dominated the town almost as much as its justly renowned cathedral. Built on the summit of Ladyhill, the site permits a courtyard castle measuring 80 metres by 50 to fit comfortably on it. Around the northern, eastern and southern sides of the hill are the remains of a terrace which is reminiscent of earlier fortifications, and suggest that the castle site may have been defended since perhaps the 8th or 9th centuries. The 16th and 17th century depictions of Elgin suggest that the main tower was at the end facing the town, but it was not a Norman-style keep, but something more modest, probably a type of hall-house.

Elgin Castle was in existence by 1160, when it appears as a royal castle, and was probably founded by David I in association with the creation of Elgin as a royal burgh in that year. The castle appears in records of the Crown down to the Wars of Independence, and was used by Edward I as a residence in 1296. In 1303 it was burned by the Scots, and again in 1307. The castle was repaired by the Earls of Moray later in the 14th century and last appears in the records in 1390 as the Earl’s Castle. It was probably sacked during the Douglas rebellion of the 1450s, after which the Dunbar Sheriffs used a residence in town, part of which survives as the (currently closed) Thunderton House public house.

HES Canmore database entry

Become a supporter of my work to access a more detailed history