Written in Stone

Castles of the British Isles each have a story to tell

by David Valdes Greenwood, for Grand Circle

William the Conqueror. Richard the Lionheart. Henry VIII. It’s hard to imagine these iconic rulers commanding their kingdoms from any other setting than a castle. Yet these fortifications didn’t come into being until 1066, when William first began constructing them as military bulwarks. The first castles were mixed use, equal part military stronghold and living quarters. Soon, they became the homes from which royals and nobles ruled.

Over time, castles came to contain all the elements of feudal life in one setting: the ruling class, the servant class, and soldiers who defended them all. With medieval standards of living, castles were cold and dark much of the time, but became ever more elaborately decorated over the years, and the scene of the grandest pageantry of the day. With groundskeepers, stable hands, kitchen staff, and servants living in or near the castles, in addition to the lords and the military, these strongholds were like miniature cities unto themselves, often long before cities appeared.

The castles of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales have since become iconic symbols of history and culture, and each has a story of its own. With no one-size-fits-all approach to feudal architecture, these seats of power are as varied and colorful as the nations in which they rise.

Shoring up the Isles of Scilly

Like any island, Tresco was vulnerable to attack from the sea, and, with a central location among the Isles of Scilly, being captured provided its holders with access to other islands. Despite the first castle being named for King Charles, it was actually young King Edward VI who determined that Tresco was at risk of falling into the hands of the covetous French, and he ordered construction of a worthy fortress in the mid-16th century.

Built in the shape of a semi-hexagon, King Charles’s Castle boasted a massive central chamber with openings that gave its crew the ability to fire on vessels below in five directions simultaneously. This would have been more impressive had the architects considered their design a little more carefully. Because the edifice rose a full 130 feet over the harbor, the only way to fire its weapons was to aim them dramatically downward; but in this position, cannonballs simply rolled out before they could be fired. Only interlopers who came ashore were in actual danger, as soldiers above were well-armed with bows and arrows. No wonder then, that in 1651 during the English Civil War, the anti-royalist forces led by Robert Blake simply sailed past the harbor and went ashore elsewhere, to take not only Tresco but St. Mary’s, the next island.

To embellish his point, Blake sent a team to partially blow up King Charles’s Castle, then used some of the rubble as stone for a new castle. Named for Oliver Cromwell, this castle was closer to the harbor and was thus actually useful. With its six gun ports on a two-story façade, it was definitely the bigger, badder brother to the first castle. Showing more foresight than Edward VI, Blake got it right: No one could gain control of the island without passing in the line of fire from the castle. Meanwhile, its shape and size made it unlikely that the castle could be destroyed from sea—and, in fact, it still stands.

In for a pretty penny, out for a pound

Although some castles changed hands due to political shifts or as the spoils of war, 15th-century Kisimul Castle off the Isle of Barra in Scotland has been strongly associated with the fortunes of a single family for nearly 600 years. For most of that time, this castle—which covers an islet but seems from a distance to float on the water—was the property of Clan MacNeil, which traces its roots back to a legendary High King of Ireland, Niall of the Nine Hostages. The head of the MacNeil family was called the chief and 20 consecutive chiefs oversaw Kisimul as their own.

In 1838, however, with the family fortunes falling, the 40th chief sold the island (and with it, the castle), and much of the clan moved to America, Canada, and other English-speaking lands. With no clan to maintain the castle, it fell into disrepair, some of its masonry being hauled away for paving stone. But 100 years later, Robert Lister MacNeil, an America-born clan descendant, determined to set things right. Using all of the money he’d earned as an architect in the States, as well as most of his wife’s inheritance, he bought back the island and set to work restoring the castle, which became one of Scotland’s treasures as the only remaining significant medieval castle in the Hebrides.

In 2011, 46th clan chief Roderick MacNeil, trying to avoid letting the island fall into disrepair ever again, made an unusual offer: The family would lease the castle to Historic Scotland, a National Trust organization, for 999 years. The terms? Rent of one British pound per year—and a bottle of Scotch whisky. It was an offer Scotland could not refuse.

Haunted house

At Dublin’s Malahide Castle, many families and political factions have walked the halls—and some, it is said, still do. Built in the 12th century by King Henry II of England and given as home to the family of his knight Sir Richard Talbot, the stone manse was expanded in the 18th century to include more imposing towers, and boasts a 22-acre garden with 5,000 species of plants. But what makes Malahide Castle stand out in the Irish imagination is its legendary ghosts, an array of colorful figures from 800 years of history.

There’s Miles Corbet, who sided with Oliver Cromwell against King Charles I in the English Civil War, and briefly claimed the castle. After Cromwell’s overthrow, Corbet was hung, drawn, and quartered, to set a grisly example for future anti-monarchists. His was the first ghost said to haunt the castle, often in full armor. As if it is not enough to encounter a ghost to begin with, his specter might fall apart, separating into quarters before your eyes.

Corbet was followed by Walter Hussey, who was murdered by a spear-throwing rival on his way to his own wedding. Adding to insult to (fatal) injury, his bride-to-be later married the rival, so Hussey’s ghost is said to wander the halls clutching his side asking if anyone has seen his former sweetheart. One Malahide couple, Maud Plunkett and her husband the Lord Chief Justice, never parted at all—it’s said that she can be seen chasing him through the castle at night, hounding him in the afterlife the way she is said to have done in their mortal years.

Puck, the four-foot-tall jester, haunts Malahide in a different fashion. He provided amusements for the ruling family and fell in love with Lady Elenora Fitzgerald, who had been detained at the castle under suspicion of plotting against King Henry VIII. Puck was found murdered, likely by pro-Henry forces, but his death was attributed to suicide. Legend says his ghost promised never to hurt anyone, and that remains true. But he also refuses to be forgotten and is said to show up unwanted in photographs taken inside the castle.

The original dream home

One of the oldest Welsh tales is that of Macsen Wledig, emperor of the Western Roman Empire in Britain, who dreamed of sailing a ship and crossing the sea to a land that was home to the world’s greatest castle and most beautiful maiden. After leaving Britain for Rome, the emperor found no such castle or maiden, and sank into despair. He sailed back to Britain—but when he ventured ashore in Wales, he found a castle at Caernarfon as great as he imagined, and a maiden beyond his hopes. He settled there, refusing to ever return to Rome. Macsen Wledig was a real person but the story was a myth, created long after his passing, which somehow caught the Welsh fancy. By the time Edward I ruled the British Empire in the 13th century, the story was part of local lore, and Edward was determined to build a castle as impressive as the one of legend. Replacing a smaller castle (which itself had replaced a smaller Roman fort that bore no resemblance to Macsen’s grand dream), mighty Caernarfon Castle rose in less than five years, with massive polygonal towers, multicolored stone meant to invoke the glories of Constantinople, and a stone enclosure wall that encompassed all of the original town as well.

Impressed with his own handiwork, Edward determined to make this castle a formal part of British royal tradition. He achieved this by insisting that his wife be moved to Caernafon for the birth of their first child, so that the Prince of Wales would be, in fact, English. To this day, Caernafon is the site of investiture for the Prince of Wales, including His Royal Highness Prince Charles in 1969.

It is likely that Prince William will follow suit, should his father Charles assume the throne in the coming years.

Last queen standing

Not every royal family is as close as the current House of Windsor. Mary, Queen of Scots, maintained a running battle with cousin Queen Elizabeth I that can only be called epic.

Mary’s seat of power seemed secure enough: Edinburgh Castle sits atop a chunk of 350-million year-old volcanic rock 390 feet above sea level, a truly immutable base. But even before she arrived in the 16th century, the castle had evolved multiple times over the years. First built in 1093 as the Castle of the Maidens, it had been damaged often in the continual battles with the English, requiring a steady stream of repairs. In 1360, King David II added 90-foot towers, and a century later, King James III brought the rest of the castle into line with more elegant furnishings and elaborate royal apartments.

Mary was by far the most famous of its residents, but when Elizabeth forced Mary to abdicate, a cadre of Mary’s supporters barricaded themselves in the castle to support their queen and sustain local rule. That turned out to be a bad idea, because Elizabeth, at her boiling point, simply gave orders to retake the castle. Her forces did considerable damage—including felling David’s mighty towers—in the process. The nobles lost, Mary was later executed, and the castle itself never recovered its height. Nonetheless, like all great castles, its value to the culture, and the history written in its stonework, endures to this day.

Castles of the British Isles each have a story to tell

• Maritime Jewels of the British Isles: England, Wales, Northern Ireland & Scotland