At Kirkcaldy, on the Fife coast, Ravenscraig Castle raises its two D-towers facing the Forth. It is one of the very first fortresses in Scotland designed specifically to resist the cannon — a military innovation due to King James II, a lover of artillery, who was to perish by it.
A fortress designed for the cannon
Ravenscraig was commissioned around 1460 by King James II, then carried on by his widow Mary of Guelders. Its design is revolutionary for Scotland: its two D-towers with walls 4.25 metres thick, its artillery platform between the towers and its 'inverted keyhole' gun embrasures make it one of the first fortresses in the realm designed for the age of gunpowder — both to take fire and to use it. James II was fascinated by artillery; a tragic irony, he was killed in 1460 by the explosion of one of his own cannon at the siege of Roxburgh.
A royal staging post of the Sinclairs
In 1471, James III gave Ravenscraig to William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, in exchange for his northern lands — the beginning of a long association between the Stewart Crown and the powerful Sinclair family. The castle remained a royal staging post on the Forth: in 1540, James V and Mary of Guise arrived there 'aboard two galleys rowed from Kinghorn', underlining its role as a maritime base. In 1598, the royal architect William Schaw accompanied the Duke of Holstein there. Ravenscraig thus illustrates the double face of Renaissance Scotland: military innovation against the cannon, and a network of royal residences along the Forth. To see: the two D-towers with 4.25 m walls, the inverted-keyhole gun embrasures, the artillery platform between the towers, the vaulted cellars.
Did you know?
The king who had Ravenscraig built to resist cannon himself died by a cannon: James II, a lover of artillery, was killed in 1460 by the explosion of one of his own bombards at the siege of Roxburgh — the overloaded engine burst at his side. Ravenscraig, one of Scotland's first anti-artillery fortresses, is thus the monument of a king who loved cannon so much that he perished by them.
Notes
Ravenscraig Castle lies at Kirkcaldy, Fife; a ruin run by Historic Environment Scotland, accessible (public park). Hours to check.
Quiz
- What is innovative about Ravenscraig?
- One of Scotland's first anti-cannon fortresses
- A gilded dome
- A theatre
- How did James II, its patron, die?
- Killed by the explosion of one of his cannon (1460)
- Beheaded
- Of old age
- To which family did James III give it in 1471?
- The Sinclairs (Earls of Orkney)
- The Douglases
- The Campbells