Scotland · Ruin
Dunnottar Castle
Dunnottar Castle is a medieval fortress on a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about 2 miles south of Stonehaven. The surviving stone buildings date mainly from the 14th–16th centuries and the site is best known for the 17th‑century concealment of the Honours of Scotland; the ruins are open to the public today.
First raised
1400
Its prime
1590
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1590
The shape it held in its prime.
Perched on a narrow rocky headland, the castle consists of a tall square 14th‑century tower house to the west and a series of low stone ranges and curtain walls forming a 16th‑century palace to the east. The buildings are grey‑brown masonry, largely roofless now but originally roofed; the site is joined to the mainland by a thin spit of land and surrounded by sheer red‑coloured cliffs dropping to the North Sea about 50 metres below. A notable stone gatehouse stands at the landward entrance.
Its story
The story of Dunnottar Castle.
Dunnottar's headland was fortified long before the present ruins: the Annals of Ulster record sieges of 'Dún Foither' in 681 and 694, King Donald II — the first ruler called King of Alba — was killed here during a Viking attack in 900, and Æthelstan's English force raided as far north as Dunnottar in 934. A chapel on the rock is said to have been founded by St Ninian in the 5th century.
The castle became the property of the Keiths in the 14th century and the seat of the Earl Marischal. David II issued a licence to crenellate in 1346; James IV visited in 1504, and Mary, Queen of Scots came twice, in 1562 after the Battle of Corrichie and again in 1564. Captured briefly by Captain Carr for the Earl of Huntly in 1592, it was restored to the Marischal within weeks. From 1581 the 5th Earl, founder of Marischal College, rebuilt the medieval fortress as a comfortable home.
Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Honours of Scotland, the crown jewels, were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century. The castle declined after the last Earl Marischal forfeited his titles for joining the Jacobite rebellion of 1715; restored in the 20th century, the clifftop ruins are now open to the public.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1590.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Dunnottar Castle — including 2 interiors: chapel incorporated into the palace, king's bedroom and the whigs' vault (cellar). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Dunnottar Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1590 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Dunnottar Castle.
The families that held Dunnottar Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Keith
Property of the Keiths from the 14th century and seat of the Earls Marischal until the last Earl forfeited his titles for joining the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
