Inverness Castle ( gd, Caisteal Inbhir Nis) sits on a cliff overlooking the River Ness in Inverness,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. A succession of castles have stood on this site since 1057, although the present structure dates from 1836. The present structure is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Medieval history

A succession of castles have stood on this site since 1057. The castle is said to have been built by

Malcolm III of Scotland Malcolm III ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, label= Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh; died 13 November 1093) was King of Scotland from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" ("ceann mòr", Gaelic, literally "big head ...

(Máel Coluim mac Donnchada). The first Inverness Castle was partially destroyed by King Robert I of Scotland in 1307 who razed its battlements to the ground. In 1428,

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

, in his effort to bring the Highlanders to heel, summoned fifty clan chiefs to a parley at Inverness Castle. However, "where the Parliament was at the time sitting, they were one by one by order of the King arrested, ironed, and imprisoned in different apartments and debarred from having any communications with each other or with their followers." Several chiefs were executed on the spot. Among those arrested were

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, 3rd Lord of the Isles, and his mother, Mariota, Countess of Ross. Lord Alexander remained imprisoned for twelve months, after which he returned to Inverness with 10,000 men and burnt the town, though he failed to take the Castle. The castle was occupied during the

Raid on Ross The Raid on Ross was a conflict that took place in 1491 in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between the Clan Mackenzie and several other clans, including the Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh, Clan MacDonald of Clanranald, the Clan Cameron, an ...

in 1491. Walter Ogilvy was paid in February 1498 for repairing the two "gemmel" towers of Inverness Castle. A "gemmel" is a pair. In February 1509

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

made

Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly (died 1524) was a Scottish nobleman. He was a member of Parliament, a member of the Privy Council, a regent and Lieutenant of the kingdom. Biography He was the son of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly and hi ...

hereditary keeper of the castle and sheriff of Inverness.

Mary, Queen of Scots

Jacobite_broadside_-_Castle_of_Inverness

In 1548 another castle with tower was completed by George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly (1514–1562). Huntly had been obliged to build a hall and chapel at the castle by James V and

Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Ma ...

in connection with his marriage to Elizabeth Keith in 1530. Huntly was constable of the castle until 1562. Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland, came to Inverness in August 1556 to hold justice courts. The castle was later taken by the Clan Munro and Clan Fraser, who supported

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Sco ...

during the Siege of Inverness (1562). Robert Mor Munro, 15th Baron of Foulis, chief of the Clan Munro, was a staunch supporter and faithful friend of Mary Queen of Scots and was consequently treated favourably by her son James VI.

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

states that when the unfortunate queen went to Inverness in 1562 and found the gates of the castle shut against her, "as soon as they heard of their sovereign's danger, a great number of the most eminent Scots poured in around her, especially the Frasers and Munros, who were esteemed the most valiant of the clans inhabiting those countries in the north". These two clans took Inverness Castle for the Queen, who had refused her admission. The Queen later hanged the governor, a Gordon who had refused entry. George Buchanan's original writings state: which translates in English as: While Mary, Queen of Scots was in Inverness she bought gunpowder and 15 tartan plaids for her lackeys and members of her household.

Other sieges of Inverness Castle

There were later sieges of Inverness in

1562 __NOTOC__ Year 1562 ( MDLXII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 6 – Shane O'Neill of Tír Eoghain pleads his cause at the Pala ...

1649 Events January–March * January 4 – In England, the Rump Parliament passes an ordinance to set up a High Court of Justice, to try Charles I for high treason. * January 17 – The Second Ormonde Peace concludes an allianc ...

, 1650,

1689 Events January–March * January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated ...

1715 Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

and

1746 Events January–March * January 8 – The Young Pretender Charles Edward Stuart occupies Stirling, Scotland. * January 17 – Battle of Falkirk Muir: British Government forces are defeated by Jacobite forces. * February ...

. Mary, Queen of Scots and

Lord Darnley Lord Darnley is a noble title associated with a Scottish Lordship of Parliament, first created in 1356 for the family of Stewart of Darnley and tracing a descent to the Dukedom of Richmond in England. The title's name refers to Darnley in Sco ...

appointed Hucheon Rose of Kilravock keeper of the castle in September 1565. In October it was decided, the Earl of Huntly should be keeper. In May 1619 it was reported that Inverness Castle was in a poor state, and "a great part thereof was quite fallen down". King James wrote from

Theobalds Theobalds House (also known as Theobalds Palace) in the parish of Cheshunt in the English county of Hertfordshire, was a significant stately home and (later) royal palace of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Set in extensive parkland, it was a r ...

to the

Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. T ...

and

Gideon Murray Gideon Murray of Elibank (died 1621), Scottish courtier and landowner. Family Gideon Murray was the third son of Sir Andrew Murray of Black Barony, Peebleshire, and Grisel Beaton, a daughter of Sir John Beaton of Creich, Fife. Regent Arran paid ...

with orders that the castle should be repaired as soon as priority works at Linlithgow Palace and

Dumbarton Castle Dumbarton Castle ( gd, Dùn Breatainn, ; ) has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. It sits on a volcanic plug of basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high and overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton. History Dum ...

were completed. James thought that "although it may be that we in our own time shall never see it, much less dwell therein, yet may some of our successors take occasion to remain there". The castle was not repaired at this time.

Current structure

The current structure was built on the site of the original castle. The red sandstone structure, displaying an early

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

style, is the work of a few 19th-century architects. The main (southern), which incorporated the old County Buildings including the Sheriff Court, was designed by

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred ...

(1789–1870) in an early

, built in red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and completed in 1836. The north block, which was originally used as a prison and later used as an additional courthouse, was designed by Thomas Brown II (1806–c. 1872) in a similar style, also built in red sandstone and was completed in 1848. Meanwhile, Joseph Mitchell (1803–1883) designed the bastioned enclosing walls. The design of the main building involved a symmetrical main frontage of seven bays facing south. The central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward, involved a round headed doorway flanked by round headed windows on the ground floor, three round headed windows on the first floor and a battlement above. The outer bays took the form of castellated towers, the left-hand tower being round and the right-hand tower being square. Following the implementation of the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it foll ...

, which established county councils in every county, the new county leaders needed to identify a meeting place for Inverness-shire County Council and duly arranged to meet in the courthouse. After Inverness-shire County Council moved to its new headquarters in Glenurquhart Road in 1963, the building continued to serve a judicial function, being used for hearings of the sheriff's court and, on one day a month, for hearings of the justice of the peace court. However, hearings of the Inverness Sheriff Court were moved to the Inverness Justice Centre on 30 March 2020. Due to extensive renovation and remodelling the castle and grounds were closed to the public in 2021. The site is scheduled to re-open to the public in 2025.

£50 note

An illustration of the castle has featured on the reverse side of a £50 note issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, which was introduced in 2005.

Gallery

File:Northern Constabulary Pipe Band - TUC Parade in Inverness Scotland (14163727423).jpg,

Pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a ...

at Inverness Castle, 2014 File:Southern elevation of Inverness Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1638216.jpg, Inverness Castle in winter with the statue of Flora MacDonald in the foreground File:Castle of Inverness.JPG, Inverness Castle File:Inverness Castle - Inverness Court.jpg, Inverness Castle as seen from across River Ness.

References

External links

History of Inverness Castle at Am BalieInverness Castle, ScotlandPanoramic virtual tour of castle, gardens & view
{{coord, 57.47631, N, 4.22550, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Castles in Highland (council area) Buildings and structures in Inverness Category A listed buildings in Highland (council area) Listed castles in Scotland