Sanquhar Castle, now a ruin, was built in the 13th century; the ruins are situated north east of Dumfries overlooking the

River Nith The River Nith (; Common Brittonic: ''Nowios'') is a river in south-west Scotland. The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, east of Dalmellington. For the majority of its course it flows ...

. Situated on the southern approach to the former

royal burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

Sanquhar Sanquhar (, ) is a town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh. It is notable for its tiny post office, established in 1712 and considered the oldest working p ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

, south west

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, it sits on the trail of the Southern Upland Way. The castle is a stronghold bounded on the west by the

, to the north by a burn, and made strong by a deep ditch running the remainder of the boundary.

History

The castle was built by the Ross family in the 13th century and then passed to the Crichton family in the 14th century. In July 1617,

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

, visited the castle en route to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

: the Crichtons welcomed him with a display so huge that it bankrupted them. Sanquhar Castle was sold by the Crichtons in the mid 17th century to Sir

William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry PC (163728 March 1695), also 3rd Earl of Queensberry and 1st Marquess of Queensberry, was a Scottish politician.G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and L ...

, who established the fairytale pink sandstone

Drumlanrig Castle Drumlanrig Castle is situated on the Queensberry Estate in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The category A listed castle is the Dumfriesshire home of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. As of September 2023, the castle itself is open to t ...

ten miles south of Sanquhar near Thornhill. From then on the castle at Sanquhar began to steadily crumble to a ruin, until 1895 when

John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, (12 September 1847 – 9 October 1900) was a Scottish landed aristocrat, industrial magnate, antiquarian, scholar, philanthropist, and architectural patron. When Bute succeeded to the marq ...

, purchased it and attempted to enthuse a restoration of his ancestral home, following successful restorations at

Cardiff Castle Cardiff Castle () is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-century Roma ...

and Castell Coch in Wales. This was undertaken by Robert Weir Schultz and the squarer and more structurally sound sections rebuilt at that time can clearly be identified. Work ended following the death of the Marquess in 1900, and what is left of the site is a mix of restoration and original stonework, but still very far from any sense of completion. It is designated a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

References

Works cited

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External links

phouka.com/travel/castles/sanquharyoutube video and commentary on the Sanquhar Cairn and Seann Cathair Fort.youtube video of Sanquhar Castle.
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