9 June: Dunottar Castle

The boys and I had a weekend in Westhill, while my husband was away on business. On Saturday we tried to find new trousers for my oldest son, but it seems the Scottish children are built differently from Norwegian kids. After trying on God knows how many different pairs of trousers in different shops, we gave up finding a pair that fitted him. All the trousers he tried on were way too wide around the waist, so I decided we'd buy new pairs when we're back in Norway on summer holidays instead.

On Sunday we went to see Dunottar Castle, just outside the lovely town of Stonehaven. We've been to Stonehaven earlier, but we still need to go back to explore it more thoroughly, it's such a tranquil place.

 

Dunottar Castle

The ruins of the medieval fortress Dunottar Castle are located less than 45 minutes by car from our house, so it's an excellent place to go for a daytrip. To get to the castle we walked south from Stonehaven and out to the steep cliffs that drop to the North Sea, 50 metres below.  The walk took us through fields and along clifftop paths, offering stunning views of wild and untamed nature.

Stonehaven's War Memorial

On our walk out to the castle, we walked past the circular Stonehaven's War Memorial. It is built as a classical temple and often thought of as being in a poor state of repair. However, this is the way it was designed to look – as unfinished or ruined as the lives of those it commemorates. The memorial was built to commemorate the dead of World War One, more names were added after the Second World War. To me the memorial came across as a peaceful place where you can take some time to meditate or think about the important things in life.

Spectacular location

Not long after we passed the war memorial, we got a good view of the castle, with its spectacular location upon a rocky headland jutting out from the surrounding steep cliffs. When we did this walk I felt a great sensation of freedom and tranquility, it's truly a place to let your hair down - and where you really can feel the wind blowing through it too.

A narrow strip of land joins the headland to the mainland, along which a steep path leads up to the gatehouse. At the mainland side a lonely piper was playing, but as we got closer on this grey and misty day, the music stopped and the piper packed up and left. No wonder, it was rather cold so he must have been freezing cold. When my husband and the boys visited the castle earlier on, the weather was much nicer and my husband filmed the lonely piper. It's a perfect location for a piper!

A fortress from the early middle ages

The site on which the castle sits is believed to have been fortified in the early middle ages. During the 9th century King Donald II was killed defending Dunnottar Castle from a Viking invasion.  However his death was in vain and the Vikings seized and destroyed the castle. Those Vikings sure knew how to fight!

Dunnottar continued to play a prominent role in the history of Scotland because of its strategic location and the strength of its situation. William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles II, all graced Dunottar Castle with their presence.

Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Scottish crown jewels were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century. Crown, sceptre and sword now take pride of place in Edinburgh Castle.

From home of the powerful to ruins

The castle was the home of the Earls Marischal, once one of the most powerful families in the land. The last Earl was convicted of treason for his part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, and as a result his estates, including Dunnottar, were seized by the government. The buildings were thereafter much neglected until 1925 when the castle was restored and then opened to the public.

The ruins of the castle are spread over a fairly large area (1.4 hectares). The surviving castle buildings are largely from the 15th and 16th centuries. The various buildings within the castle include the 14th-century tower house as well as the 16th-century palace.

The dining room has recently been restored, with a beautiful wooden ceiling. The room is quite bare, but it includes a memorial over the fire place, commemorating the fact that the Scottish Crown Jewels were kept here from 1651 until 1652.

Nature takes it all back

The ruins are surrounded by lush, grassy areas and many colourful flowers, and the grass and flowers have started to grow on the walls of the ruins too. The most beautiful examples were the yellow flowers growing on the walls, brightening up even the greyest of days. It was almost as if the sun had crept into the old walls and shone its warm, yellow light on us.

 

Fantastic fish and ice cream

We had been told that one of the shops on the beachfront in Stonehaven have the best fish and chips you can get, and the shop next to it sells the best ice cream. This was confirmed by my husband and the boys on an earlier occasion, when I was in Norway on management training.

When it comes to the ice cream, one of the mums at school told me that it's so good, all she wanted for her 30th birthday was an ice cream cake from the shop in Stonehaven, which she got.

Unfortunately we ran out of time and did not get the opportunity to go this time, as we had to head back home to welcome my husband who had been away for a few days. And since I had his key, we had to go home to let him in, or he would be soaking wet on this grey and rainy day.