Threave Castle

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Island in the River Dee, Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway07711 223 101

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Threave Castle Photo - Threave Castle, Castle Douglas, Scotland

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Threave Castle - not to be taken lightly

by Drever

Ayr, Scotland, United Kingdom

September 20, 2011

Best of IgoUgo Castles you can only reach on foot have a particular attraction in today's car dependant world. Castles on islands also have special character. The mighty tower house of Threave Castle is doubly attractive. It is on an island in the middle of the ...Read more Castles you can only reach on foot have a particular attraction in today's car dependant world. Castles on islands also have special character. The mighty tower house of Threave Castle is doubly attractive. It is on an island in the middle of the River Dee a couple of miles west of Castle Douglas and even getting to it is an exciting and romantic experience in itself. To get from the car park at Kelton Mains farm to the ferry there is a ten minute walk through fields and past woods along good farmland paths until you arrive at the shore of the River Dee. There you will find a small jetty and a brass bell with a rope pull. Ring this bell loudly and the boatman will come across from the island to take you to the castle. Threave Castle is under the care of Historic Scotland.

The castle comes with the bonus of welcoming, enthusiastic and knowledgeable caretakers who double as ferry operators and who help add depth and atmosphere to your visit. Intending visitors should note that Threave Castle is only open from April to September. The castle consists of a tall tower house almost 100ft (30m) high, surrounded by a large complex of other buildings. The latter have now all gone but excavations in the 1970s uncovered portions of them. They included an outer hall, living quarters for retainers and a harbour.

The tower house, one of the first of its type built in Scotland, was five storeys high, and housed storage and service accommodation in the lower floors, with a private suite of rooms above. The walls were 10ft (3m) thick, with only small windows facing the island. The battlements presented a formidable defence, with an overhanging timber hoarding enabling the garrison to keep attackers at bay.

Legend tells that Threave Island was the home of the ancient rulers of Galloway a thousand years ago. Today there is no trace of their fortress. Sir Archibald Douglas in 1369 built the tall, forbidding tower that now dominates the island. He was one of the great figures in late-14th-century Scotland. His father, ‘the Good Sir James’ of Douglas had been King Robert Bruce’s dearest friend during the bloody Wars of Independence with England.

Bruce’s son, David I granted Archibald the Lordship of Galloway to tackle another enemy, the men of Galloway, who had long been thorns in the flesh of Scotland’s kings. In 1400 he died but by then he had tamed not only the Gallovidians but in fighting the English he eventually forcing them out of Lochmaben Castle, their last toehold in the Scottish West March. It was the English who named him ‘the Grim’, because of his terrifying appearance when in battle.

King James resented the power of the Douglases and in the 1440s the 8th Earl of Douglas came increasingly into conflict with him following the king’s execution of the 6th Earl and his younger brother. In 1452 King James invited William, the 8th Earl, to Stirling under safe conduct to negotiate peace between them. During the meeting the 21-year old James drew his dagger and stabbed the Earl to death. The 9th Earl of Douglas, James, continued to resist the will of the King. Knowing the King was a keen enthusiast for the latest continental artillery in 1447 the 8th Earl of Douglas embarked on a major upgrade of the defences at Threave Castle.

It proved needed for in 1455 King James II decided to destroy this branch of the Douglas family. A three-month siege of Threave Castle followed. Despite heavy bombardment, including shots from a great "Bombard", a massive siege gun, the castle held out and only surrendered after the king bribed the garrison commanders.
The castle remained annexed to the crown until granted to Lord Maxwell of Caerlaverock Castle. He put up an earth bank as an outer gun emplacement in readiness for a siege by the Covenanters fighting for an independent Scottish Church. Again the siege failed to take Threave by force, but nonetheless eventually the castle surrendered and the Covenanters made it uninhabitable.

Today the castle is evocative of those turbulent times four to five hundred years ago. The surrounding landscape of marsh, water, and woodlands has changed little, although when Sir Archibald Douglas built the castle the water level in the River Dee was higher, and Threave Island was only about a third of its size now.

It is also wrong to think of the castle as an isolated building. When built it would have been the most secure and easily defended part of a village covering much of the island. Most of the floors are typical of those usually found in tower houses: a vertical stack made up of ground floor storage cellar and pit prison; mezzanine kitchen and reception room; first floor hall; and second floor private apartments.

What makes Threave unique is its third floor, a room designed to house the garrison in times of siege. This had a doorway through which to winch weapons and supplies up from ground level, and nine windows for defensive fire. Immediately above it were the battlements, with overhanging timber hoardings on three sides and an overhanging stone machicolation on the fourth, ,which allowed defenders to drop various unpleasantness on any attackers reaching the walls.

Threave is well worth a visit. Just ring the bell loudly and the ferry will come and whisk you across.
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From journal Exploring West Scotland

A boat ride away

by Cindy Grant

Petersburg, Virginia

June 26, 2011

Threave Castle was built in the 14th century, on a small island in the middle of the Dee River. All 50 of us took turns taking the boat ride from the landing to the castle. The Douglas family built this castle. From the car parking lot, you walk ...Read more

From journal The Scotland Ghostour

Threave Castle

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Threave Castle - not to be taken lightly

A boat ride away