Saturday Snapshot: Rosslyn Castle

Published on by Margaret

During our recent visit to Scotland we went to Rosslyn Chapel and also to Rosslyn Castle. This was our second visit to the Chapel, but our first to the Castle. (We went to Rosslyn Chapel three years ago – see this post for information on the Chapel and some photos.) On that first visit the Chapel was surrounded with scaffolding and you could go up to the roof. From there you can see the Castle far below the Chapel built on high on a rocky promontory in the Roslin Glen.

The Castle is in Roslin Glen – the nearby village is spelt Roslin, but the Chapel and Castle are spelt Rosslyn – like the earldom. The derivation of the name is from the Celtic words ‘ross‘, a rocky promontory and ‘lynn‘, a waterfall – not as described in The Da Vinci Code as deriving from a longitudinal Rose Line on the north-south meridian that runs through Glastonbury!

This time we decided to go to the Castle after seeing the Chapel. It’s down a little lane between trees and you walk over a bridge to get to the ruins.

It was a dismal rainy day but still the castle ruins stood out – stark and dramatic against the  skyline:

These are the ruins of the original 14th century castle, built in the 1330s for Henry Sinclair, the Earl of Orkney. At that time there was a drawbridge – replaced now by the modern access bridge. Behind the ruined walls you can see what looks like a house:

My photo is dark because by this time it was raining quite heavily. The castle was largely destroyed during the 15th and 16th centuries and was rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries as a fortified house with five floors. The building from this side looks like any other house, but from the other side it is enormous. We didn’t go round to see it, but there are photos on the Landmark Trust website showing its size and the renovated rooms that are available to let as holiday accommodation.

The photo below shows the remains of the west wall:

and here are the remains of the gatehouse:

There were only a few other people walking round the ruins, whereas the Chapel was packed, with people arriving in cars and coaches. In fact inside the Chapel it was so crowed you could hardly walk round for other people. I suppose it’s the popularity of The Da Vinci Code that attracts so many people, but it’s hard to get a proper sense of its history and to see its beauty with so many other people there. There is now a Visitor Centre, where you can buy books and souvenirs and get drinks and sandwiches etc, also very crowded.

I preferred the Castle – so atmospheric.

For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.

20 thoughts on “Saturday Snapshot: Rosslyn Castle”

  1. Gorgeous shots…I do like the starkness of the castle on a gray day…and the ruins are really intriguing. Love that bridge, too.

    Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog.

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  2. This brings back memories – we stayed in the house to celebrate my 50th birthday. It was November, the first really cold weather of the year. As we arrived the temperature plummeted to well below freezing. On our first night I discovered the heater in my bedroom didn’t work and at 2am both dogs decided that they needed to go our urgently. So I stood on the lawn amidst the frost in my nightie and big black coat and then crawled back into bed with dog and puppy and covered all of us in the coat! None of us have ever been so cold in our lives as we were that weekend. And that bridge is terrifying if you don’t like heights. Otherwise it was great fun, and a very spooky place (there are three floors below the main house that you can see in your lovely photograph).

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  5. I love this castles in Scotland! My Dad is from Aberdeen and when we would go back to visit my favorite activity was visiting the castles. My favorite is probably Scone Palace.

    Your pictures convey all the history in this site.

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  7. Interesting about the name Rosslyn as we have a city in Virginia that is named and spelled Rosslyn. I assume it derived its name from your Rosslyn.

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  11. It’s nice that a lot of people can enjoy a historic site, but sometimes it really ruins the atmosphere. Sounds like the castle was the better stop on your visit.

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  18. Margaret – Oh, what lovely ‘photos! It looks as though you had a wonderful visit. And I find that etymology really interesting. Thanks for sharing it.

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  19. We really must go there, we’ve driven past the road sign countless times but you know what it’s like when you live near somewhere, you tend to neglect those places. I’ve not read the Da Vinci Code and would prefer the castle too I’m sure.

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