Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle has been besieged around 26 times, sits on a volcano's plug, and fires a gun at one o'clock daily, bar Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.
Published
Quick Facts
- Location
- Castle Rock, at the top of the Royal Mile, Edinburgh
- Built on
- The plug of an extinct volcano, some 340 million years old
- Oldest surviving building
- St Margaret's Chapel, early 12th century
- Famous for
- The Honours of Scotland, the One O'Clock Gun and Mons Meg
- One O'Clock Gun
- Fired daily except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day, since 1861
- Great Hall
- Completed around 1511 under James IV, with a hammerbeam roof
- Mons Meg
- 15th-century siege gun, made in Flanders and given to James II in 1457
- Visitor numbers
- Over 2 million in 2019, making it Scotland's most visited paid attraction
A castle built on a dead volcano
Before there was a castle, there was a lump of rock. Castle Rock is the hardened core of a volcano that was active more than 340 million years ago. In the last Ice Age, glaciers scraped away the softer rocks around it, but the tough volcanic plug shielded a ridge of softer bedrock on its eastern side. That protected tail is the ridge the Royal Mile runs along. The result is a fortress with sheer cliffs on three sides and one steep approach. It's hard to imagine a better spot for a stronghold, and people have lived on the rock since the Bronze Age, long before anyone called the place Edinburgh.
The tiny chapel that outlasted everything
The oldest building on the rock is also one of the smallest. St Margaret's Chapel dates from the early 12th century and is thought to have been built by King David I in memory of his mother, Queen Margaret, who died in the castle in 1093. It has survived sieges, bombardment and the wholesale demolition of buildings around it. When Robert the Bruce's forces recaptured the castle in 1314, he had its defences torn down so the English couldn't use it again. The little chapel somehow came through. It is still used for weddings and baptisms.
A castle that changed hands again and again
Edinburgh Castle is often described as one of the most besieged places in Britain, with around 26 sieges across its history. English and Scottish forces swapped it back and forth during the Wars of Independence. In 1314 Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, took it for Bruce by sending men up the cliff face by night, guided by a local man who knew a secret path. The last major siege came in 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite army occupied the city but couldn't take the castle. After that, its role shifted from fortress to garrison, and later to prison. Prisoners of war from the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars were held in the vaults.
The crown jewels that went missing in a chest
The Honours of Scotland, the crown, sceptre and sword of state, are the oldest crown jewels in the British Isles. They were used at the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543 and later at Charles II's in 1651. When Oliver Cromwell's armies threatened to destroy them, they were smuggled out and hidden under the floor of a church in Kinneff. After the Union of 1707 they were locked in a chest in the castle and the room was sealed. They stayed there, forgotten by many, until Sir Walter Scott received permission to search in 1818. The chest was prised open and the Honours were found inside. The Stone of Destiny, the ancient coronation stone of Scottish kings, was taken by Edward I in 1296 and kept at Westminster Abbey for 700 years. It returned to Scotland in 1996 and was displayed in the castle until 2024. It now sits in Perth Museum, which opened in March 2024.
Mons Meg and the one o'clock bang
Mons Meg is a giant late-medieval bombard, given to James II of Scotland in 1457. It could fire stone balls weighing about 150kg. Its barrel burst in 1681 while firing a salute, and for a while it was largely a curiosity. It was taken to the Tower of London in 1754 and returned to Edinburgh in 1829 after campaigning by Sir Walter Scott. The One O'Clock Gun has a more practical origin. It was introduced in 1861 so ships in the Firth of Forth could set their chronometers by it. A time ball on Nelson's Monument on Calton Hill drops at the same moment, a visual signal for those who couldn't hear the bang. Today the gun is a favourite for visitors who jump at it every time. It is fired by the army, and the shot is a blank charge.
Notable people
- Queen Margaret
- David I
- Robert the Bruce
- Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray
- James IV
- Mary, Queen of Scots
- Sir Walter Scott
- Bonnie Prince Charlie
Test yourself
Play the UK quizMore to see nearby
.jpg){kind=link}
The Palace of Holyroodhouse
Published
Debtors once ran for this palace's doorstep to escape arrest, and a royal stag-hunting legend gave it its name. Today it's the King's Scottish home.
Arthur's Seat
Published
A volcano with a city at its feet: Arthur's Seat is the 251-metre-high eroded remains of an extinct volcano that helped prove how old the Earth really is.
The Royal Mile
Published
It's a mile long, but not quite an English mile: Edinburgh's great ridge-top street runs from a castle on a volcano to a palace in a park, and it's packed with ghosts, saints and hanged gentlemen.