Threave Castle

Threave Castle

Threave Castle
Castle Douglas
Dumfries and Galloway
Scotland
DG7 1TJ

Tel: 07711 223 101
E-Mail: hs.members@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Web: Threave Castle

About Threave Castle

An island fastness

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. The tall, forbidding tower that now dominates the island was built for Sir Archibald Douglas in 1369. He had recently become Lord of Galloway, but is better known to history as Archibald ‘the Grim’. By the time he died at Threave in 1400, he had become the 3rd Earl of Black Douglas, and was the most powerful magnate in southern Scotland.

Half a century later, when James II took steps to overthrow the over-mighty Black Douglases, it was Threave that staged the final act in the drama. After a two-month-long siege, the island stronghold reverted to the Crown and thereafter played only a relatively minor part in Scotland’s history.

A house of Black Douglas

Archibald Douglas was one of the great figures in late-14th-century Scotland. His natural father, ‘the Good Sir James’ of Douglas, had been King Robert Bruce’s dearest friend during the bloody Wars of Independence with England. Archibald carried on where his father left off, fighting the English and eventually forcing them out of Lochmaben Castle, their last remaining toehold in the Scottish West March. It was the English who named him ‘the Grim’, because of his terrifying appearance when in battle.

Archibald was actually given the Lordship of Galloway by Bruce’s son, David II. He was installed there specifically to tackle another enemy, the men of Galloway, who had long been thorns in the flesh of Scotland’s kings. By the time of his death in 1400, he had pacified not only the English but the Gallovidians too.

A forbidding tower

Archibald’s castle comprised a tall tower house almost 100ft (30m) high, surrounded by a large complex of other buildings. The latter have now all gone but substantial remains of them were found during excavations in the 1970s. They included an outer hall, where Archibald held court, additional living quarters for retainers, etc, 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 Archibald’s 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.

Downfall

By 1450 the Black Douglases were so powerful they had to be removed. The 8th Earl of Douglas took precautionary measures to defend himself. He demolished all the ancillary buildings to make way for a purpose-built artillery wall.
This ‘state-of-the-art’ defence still survives. It succeeded in keeping James II at bay during the siege of 1455: the garrison surrendered only after being bribed by the king.