Staring Out to Sea from Dunnottar Castle

Dunnottar Castle sits high on the cliffs near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. It’s scenic and sprawling and, though peaceful now, it boasts a turbulent history.

Dunnottar was attacked by Vikings in the ninth century and captured by William Wallace in 1297. Kings and queens loved to visit: Mary Queen of Scots, James VI, and at one point during my own visit I was standing in the bedroom of Charles II.

There’s beautiful architecture everywhere, such as the old Smithy above. And ghosts! Though I didn’t meet them, there’s a lassie in a green plaid searching for her lost Pictish children, a young deer hound and a Scandinavian military gentleman who likes to stare out to sea.

I’m with him there. The views are astonishing. My eyes were constantly drawn away from the castle ruins to look out over the ocean.

The elevated position of the castle means you can see across miles and miles of silvery sea. The window below is located in the Whigs’ Vault that held imprisoned Covenanters in 1685.

I really loved those views!

But it’s time to go. It’s time to walk back up the many, many steps that seemed so inconsequential on the way down…

For more information on the wonderfully atmospheric Dunnottar Castle visit the official site. There will be some more sea staring pictures in the next email to my mailing list