Scotland · 13th century
Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1357). In the latter part of the 14th century, the castle was granted to William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, by his uncle. It remained in the Douglases' hands for the next 300 years. Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned there in 1567–68, and forced to abdicate as queen, before escaping with the help of her gaoler's family. In 1588, the queen's gaoler inherited the title of Earl of Morton, and moved away from the castle. In 1675, Sir William Bruce, an architect, bought the castle and used it as a focal point for his garden; it was never again used as a residence.
The remains of the castle are protected as a scheduled monument in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Lochleven Castle is open to the public in summer, and access is available by ferry.
Text adapted from “Lochleven Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Loch Leven Castle ranks #670 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #21 of the 226 mapped in Scotland. Founded 1300, it is older than 61% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 7,997 times in the last 60 days, more than 92% of the atlas. 14 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Edinburgh, 30 km away. It is one of the 76 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Scottish Highlands. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.
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