St Andrews Castle

St Andrews Castle is a ruined courtyard castle on a promontory just along the coast from the Cathedral church. It was first built c1200 and was occupied by the Bishops of St Andrews into the 17th century, being restored and repaired several times. It is managed by Historic Environment Scotland and is open to the public for a fee, but it has no dedicated car park.

During the Bruce period, it was destroyed twice by the Scots, on both occasions having been occupied by English soldiers, and was rebuilt “from the foundations” in the 14th century. It was strengthened for artillery defence by Cardinal Beaton before his assassination there in 1546, and a new monumental entrance added before the Reformation. In the end it was abandoned rather than destroyed, and used as a quarry to build the harbour walls, perhaps part of the promontory had eroded away by this time as well, rendering it indefensible. In 1801 the Great Hall was lost to the sea, and erosion only stopped with the construction of a sea wall in 1886.

Official Historic Scotland page

HES Canmore database entry