Scotland · 16th century
The Castle of St John, also known as Stranraer Castle, is an early 16th-century L-plan tower house in the centre of Stranraer, in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It was built by the Adairs of Kilhilt (who originally came from Ireland) c. 1510. It has been used as a home, a court, a police station and as a military garrison during the "Killing Times" of Covenanter persecution in the 1680s. During the Victorian era, the castle was modified to serve as a prison, and it was used as an ARP base during the Second World War. The castle was refurbished in the late 1980s and is now a museum.
Text adapted from “Castle of St John” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castle of St. John ranks #5,798 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #191 of the 226 mapped in Scotland. Founded c. 1600, it is older than 31% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. The nearest day-trip guide is Belfast, 67 km away. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.
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