Blackness Castle

March 9, 2015 15 Comments

Yesterday we went east to Blackness Castle on the Firth of Forth, one of Historic Scotland’s sites. We dodged the rain with a well-timed lunch, then spent a dry, if cold and blustery, hour exploring before walking a couple of miles along the banks of the Forth for good views back to the Castle and of the Ochil Hills and some intriguing fungi.

Blackness Castle

The ship that never sailed

Blackness Castle

John at Blackness

Blackness Castle

Ochil view

Blackness Castle

Fungi by the Forth

The Ochils from Blackness

Blackness was built in the 15th century and is remarkably well-preserved, perhaps because it spent much of its life as a fortress and prison. It’s also known as “the ship that never sailed” – you can get some impression of that in the picture above of the prow-like tower with the Saltire pointing out into the water. Well worth the visit!

Scotland, UK Blackness Castle, Castles, Historic Scotland

15 Comments »

jazzfeathers
May 14, 2015 at 16:02

Beautiful place. I love castles 🙂

But why is it called Blackness? What a suggestive name!

LikeLike
- Anabel Marsh
  May 14, 2015 at 20:46
  
  You know, until you asked that question it never occurred to me that it might be seen as “blackness” as in “darkness”. Which is the obvious way to see it and I should have thought about explaining it. It’s pronounced as 2 words Black-Ness – ness is an old Norse word for headland and a lot of places have it in their name. So the rocks are black and it’s a ness I suppose….
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  - jazzfeathers
    May 14, 2015 at 20:53
    
    Cool! It sounds like this place needs a fantasy story 😉
    
    LikeLike
    - Anabel Marsh
      May 14, 2015 at 21:02
      
      It certainly does!
      
      LikeLiked by 1 person
Paul
April 6, 2015 at 11:46

Another of my favourite places. I was there just a couple of weeks back however I was not lucky enough to get the nice weather you had. It was misty, cold and wet, didn’t stop me taking some photos though!

LikeLike
- Anabel Marsh
  April 6, 2015 at 12:23
  
  It was nice in the sense of bright but very cold!
  
  LikeLike
Lori L MacLaughlin
March 10, 2015 at 15:17

Love that castle! If I ever get back to Scotland, it’s going on my list of must-visits.

LikeLike
- Anabel Marsh
  March 10, 2015 at 17:13
  
  There are so many lovely castles – but I think the ones, such as this, perched on the edge of the sea are the best.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
cvail
March 10, 2015 at 09:01

Anabel, We’re hoping to go camping in Scotland for about a week this summer…I can’t wait!

LikeLike
- Anabel Marsh
  March 10, 2015 at 09:11
  
  Fantastic! I’ll start the anti-rain dance for you now. Where are you planning to camp?
  
  LikeLike
Birgit
March 9, 2015 at 22:52

This looks so beautiful in its starkness. It looks like it was a cold day. I wonder how it looked back when it was first built and how cold the people living there must have been. This is something to see

LikeLike
- Anabel Marsh
  March 9, 2015 at 23:01
  
  I wonder that about all the castles. There would have been tapestries on the stone walls and fires, but even so – brr! I’m glad to be living in the 21st century.
  
  LikeLike
helenmackinven
March 9, 2015 at 16:06

Great pics. Blackness isn’t far from me and I’ve been to the beach and castle several times but never inside – must put that right soon…

LikeLike
- Anabel Marsh
  March 9, 2015 at 16:07
  
  Be prepared for a work-out! Lots of spiral staircases to climb, but the views are worth it.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  - helenmackinven
    March 9, 2015 at 16:13
    
    Thanks for the warning – maybe that’s why I’ve avoided it in the past! 😉
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person