Hidden Scotland
Sign in

Castles
in Dumfries and Galloway.

It’s 20:58 in Dumfries and Galloway.
Dumfries and Galloway

Moats, towers and a pink palace.

Dumfries and Galloway's castles are full of character. There's a triangular castle inside its own moat on the Solway, the great tower of the Black Douglases on an island in the River Dee, and a seventeenth-century palace of pink sandstone near Thornhill. Roofless towers stand on cliff edges and above estuaries, and one sits in the middle of Stranraer. Some are reached by boat, others by a clifftop path. Check the opening times.

Dunskey Castle→
Castle of St John→
Drumlanrig Castle→
Threave Castle→
Caerlaverock Castle→
Cardoness Castle→
Kenmure Castle→
Castle of the day19 hours ago

Threave Castle.

The great tower of the Black Douglases on an island in the River Dee near Castle Douglas, reached by a short boat trip.

Read about it
Today17 hours agoDumfries and GallowayCaerlaverock CastleAttractionDumfries and GallowayThreave CastleAttractionDumfries and GallowayDrumlanrig CastleAttraction

Today calls for a castle.

7° and clear in Dumfries and Galloway. Dry enough for the ramparts and the walk round the walls.

See them all
Dumfries and Galloway16 hours ago

Dunskey Castle had been a ruin for more than 250 years when the film crews came for Kidnapped in 1951.

Dunskey Castle stands on the clifftop half a mile south of Portpatrick, on the site of a castle of the 1100s. The Adair family built it and repaired it in the early 1500s, and it was a ruin by 1684. Film crews have come for the setting, and it appears in Kidnapped in 1951 and Hunted in 1952.

Find out more about Dunskey Castle
Did you know14 hours ago

The last McCulloch laird of Cardoness Castle was put to death for killing his neighbour.

Cardoness Castle, near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, was the tower of the McCulloch family. Sir Godfrey McCulloch was executed for killing a neighbour, one of the Gordons, and the family left the castle in the late 1600s.

See Cardoness Castle · Dumfries and Galloway
From our guide13 hours ago

Drumlanrig Castle and Estate.

Featured as a location in the television series Outlander, this 17th-century stately home is considered one of Scotland’s finest. It incorporates 90,000 acres of wild parkland where you can spot otters, red squirrels and birds of prey. Inside, fine antiques jostle for space with Rembrandt’s Old Lady Reading, as well as works by Thomas Gainsborough, Paul Sandby and the Dutch masters. The estate can be explored via a network of paths, and bike hire is available at the brilliant local business Rik’s Bike Shed.

See the place
Lunch11 hours agoDumfries and GallowayFig and Olive300 yardsDumfries and GallowayThe Port Pantry, Portpatrick5.6 milesDumfries and GallowayHarbour House Hotel5.6 miles

Lunch near Castle of St John.

The three good places closest to it: Fig and Olive, The Port Pantry, Portpatrick and Harbour House Hotel.

See Castle of St John
In Dumfries and Galloway9 hours ago

OakHill Café and Deli, beside Carsluith Castle on the A75, has won Best Eating Experience at the South of Scotland Thistle Awards.

It looks out over the Solway, serves breakfasts, lunches and cakes, and has a deli counter of cheeses, charcuterie and smoked fish.

Read about it
From the magazine8 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 03Issue 03Winter 2021

The Devil's Porridge Museum, at Eastriggs near Gretna in Dumfries and Galloway, is named for Arthur Conan Doyle's nickname for cordite, which young women mixed in the First World War.

Cordite was the propellant that went into the ammunition and shells of the First World War. In 1916 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle visited HM Factory Gretna, then the largest munitions factory in the world, and saw young women mixing a white, lumpy mixture that he thought looked like porridge. The award-winning museum close to Gretna tells the story of those young women in particular. Judith Hewitt, its manager when the magazine visited, said people think Scottish history is all about clans, tartan and castles. As she put it, 'I think it is surprising that this happened here and that the work was done by women'.

See The Devil's Porridge Museum · Dumfries and Galloway
Stay6 hours agoDumfries and GallowayWren's Nest1.8 milesDumfries and GallowayRose Blair Lodge1.8 milesDumfries and GallowayHeritage Coachman Lodge1.8 miles

Stay near Dunskey Castle.

The three good places closest to it: Wren's Nest, Rose Blair Lodge and Heritage Coachman Lodge.

See Dunskey Castle
From our guide5 hours ago

Caerlaverock Castle.

A wide moat encircles this 13th-century castle, whose tall towers and lofty battlements are arranged into a distinctive triangular layout in a tranquil setting on the Solway Firth. Not always so peaceful, it was the site of bloody border battles during the Scottish Wars of Independence. In 1300, its garrison of 60 stood strong but eventually fell during a siege by 3,000 of Prince Edward’s men.

See the place
Dumfries and Galloway3 hours ago

No other castle in Britain has the shape of Caerlaverock, a triangle inside its moat, south of Dumfries.

Caerlaverock Castle stands seven miles south of Dumfries, and its triangular shape is unlike any other castle in Britain. The Maxwells held it from the 1200s to the 1600s, and in July 1300 Edward I of England laid siege to it. Inside the walls is the Nithsdale Lodging, finished around 1634, and a bridge crosses the moat to the gatehouse.

Find out more about Caerlaverock Castle
Did you know2 hours ago

Edward I himself led the siege of Caerlaverock Castle, in Dumfries and Galloway, in 1300.

The siege began in July 1300. The small garrison surrendered within two days of facing the full might of the English king's army. A contemporary account of the siege is one of the most fascinating recorded for any castle in the British Isles.

See Caerlaverock Castle · Dumfries and Galloway