Urquhart Castle - Scotland

Urquhart Castle is located in Drumnadrochit, Inverness, Scotland, along the banks of Loch Ness.  Although there were fortifications along the promontory as far back as the 500s, the first ownership of the land was granted to Alan Durward, a powerful nobleman, around 1230.  Upon the death of Durward in 1275 the land was granted to John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lochaber.  Under his ownership the land along the triangular promontory of Strone Point was turned into a stone fortress and the present-day castle was most likely built.  England’s Edward I captured the castle in 1296 during the Wars of Scottish Independence.  The castle was recaptured by Robert Bruce in 1307.  Over the next two hundred years the castle would pass through several hands until James IV granted the badly deteriorating Urquhart to James Grant in 1509.  Repairs were carried out up until the early 1600s.  By 1647 the castle was no longer a royal residence and stood empty.  During the Revolution of 1688 Urquhart was partially blown up by the garrison defending it to prevent the Jacobite army which laid siege to it from gaining entry.  Over time the castle ruins were plundered by locals for their material.  A tower collapsed during a storm in 1715, further adding to the decay of the castle.  By 1913 the castle was transferred to the organization now known as Historic Environment Scotland, which still oversees its care.  In recent times the castle served as the backdrop for the climax in Billy Wilder’s 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.

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