This
great red sandstone castle stands surrounded by a protective moat. Triangular in plan, it
has round towers at the "rear" corners, and a double tower at the apex entrance.
On crossing the drawbridge the portcullis gate is passed and the inner courtyard reached.
On the East Side of this rises the magnificent Nithsdale Apartments, built in 1634 with a
decorative Renaissance front. Ornate pediments with arms and other symbols are located
over each window. Within one of the vaults is the old well. The western range of the
building dates from the 15th century, at the south east corner of which is
Murdoch’s Tower. Though the castle is ruinous, most rooms can be visualised, and many
of them have ornate fire-surrounds.
Sir Herbert Maxwell built
Caerlaverock around 1270. In 1300 Edward I of England placed it under siege, with three
thousand men. The garrison’s sixty men held out for two days. The castle suffered
further attacks in 1312, 1356, 1545, 1570 and 1640 for thirteen weeks. After each siege,
except the last, the castle was rebuilt.
The castle remained in Maxwell
ownership until it passed to the Dukes of Norfolk, who placed it in guardianship in 1946.
In the grounds are a children’s playground, cannon and rebuilt mangoned. |
