Bothwell Castle Video
Bothwell Castle Video Aerial view of Bothwell Castle, Scotland, 2015. Bothwell, United Kingdom Bothwell Castle is one of the outstanding monuments of medieval Scotland.It owes its origins to Walter of Moray, from a northern aristocratic family, which acquired Bothwell in 1242. He (or his son William, known as ‘the Rich’) began the mighty castle in a spectacular display of feudal pride.Their dream was never completed, probably because of the outbreak of the Wars of Independence in 1296. What they did achieve is the great donjon – the circular keep tower.Not surprisingly, the Morays’ great castle figured prominently in the Wars of Independence with England. Siege followed on siege. The most momentous was Edward I’s great siege of 1301.After the wars, Bothwell Castle passed to another powerful noble family, the Black Douglases. They remodelled it in a form not envisaged by their predecessors. This is also impressive, with an array of fine-quality later-medieval secular architecture. After the Black Douglases were overthrown in 1455, the castle reverted to the Crown, and its later history was relatively uneventful.The Morays envisaged a vast stone castle of enclosure covering 1.5 acres (0.75 hectares). This was to have had a mighty twin-towered entrance gatehouse and other circular towers projecting from its formidable curtain wall.Only the donjon, the main residential tower, was ever fully built. It measured 20m in diameter, and stood over 30m high. Although it was partially destroyed in 1337, it is still remarkably impressive – one of the greatest military works of medieval Scotland.In August 1301, when the Wars of Independence with England were at their height, Bothwell endured a major siege. Edward I of England, ‘Hammer of the Scots’, brought 6,800 soldiers to the castle.A huge siege engine called le berefrey (‘the belfry’) was hauled from Glasgow. It was a tall siege tower, with ladders inside to enable the attackers to fight their way onto the castle battlements. The garrison surrendered within the month. www.historic-scotland.gov.uk An Aerial view of Bothwell Castle in Lanarkshire, Scotland, on a cold early morning in March 2015.. Filmed using a Yuneec Q500 Typhoon Quadcopter
