Return to Blackness

Blackness Castle has featured in a previous blip. However the last time I visited the weather was foul and all I got were some internal shots, so after watching the rugby debacle that was Scotland v Argentina I decided to take advantage of the better conditions today and nip up the road again.

I'd like to thank the many people who have commented on the historical aspect of my castle blips. When I started these I only knew a little of what I have come to learn. I mentioned in my bio that one of the things that draws me to these buildings is the story behind their existence and more often than not, their ultimate demise. Without the knowledge of the Historic Scotland staff I've had the pleasure in meeting, their excellent souvenir guides and (of course) Wikipedia there would be no way I'd be able to pass on these mini-histories which I hope you continue to enjoy reading as much as I do investigating and writing. I just wanted to set the record straight.

The castle itself has had an interesting and varied existence. The port at Blackness was first mentioned in records around 1200 but it wasn't until 1449 that a castle was. By this time George Crichton was Admiral of Scotland and owned property in Blackness. It is likely that the Crichton's were trying to exploit the growing unrest between the Crown and the Black Douglas family when the castle was built close to the Douglas stronghold at Abercorn to the east and originally consisted of a simple tower house and low curtain wall.

The Crichton's influence didn't last long however and in 1454 George Crichton was forced to name James II as his heir, assigning all assets to him. George's own son, also James, responded by capturing both the castle and his father. Following a two week siege from land and sea, the castle was surrendered to James II.

The transfer to the Crown impacted on the function of the castle. With no permanent resident the property was maintained by a succession of appointed keepers who in turn for keeping the castle in continuous readiness for a royal visit were given the right to a proportion of the customs raised in the port and control over the fishing and salt-manufacturing industries around Blackness. In the end, there is evidence to suggest that James IV was the only sovereign to visit more than once.

By 1543 Blackness had been transformed into one of the most formidable strongholds in Scotland with massively thickened walls constructed on the vulnerable east and south elevations and a generous provision of defensive guns. Such was it's reputation of impregnability that when French troops arrived in 1547 to aid the Scots against the English, while they maintained their main garrison in Leith, Blackness was employed as their main ammunition depot. In fact when the Royal Navy left Rosyth in May 1916 on their way to intercept the German grand fleet in the Battle of Jutland they did so with ammunition provided from the central depot in the castle.

Blackness also served as a prison. In 1449 James II imprisoned his chamberlain there during the conflict with the Black Douglases. After the Crown took control it became one of the most popular state prisons providing a controlled environment for some inmates of the highest status and power in addition to the less fortunate commoners who found themselves less well treated in the castle's pit prison.

Blackness continued to serve as a garrison fortress for many years and it wasn't until the invasions of Oliver Cromwell's parliamentarians in 1651 that the walls were breeched and the castle left in ruins. Charles II restored the stronghold to it's previous glory and purpose until it finally passed out of use as a state prison after the 1707 Union, although it did remain garrisoned through the French Revolutionary Wars and served as a POW camp and coastal battery and central ammunition depot throughout the Napoleonic Wars.