IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Brodick, ISLE OF ARRAN, KA27 8HY

The strong defensive site of Brodick Castle does not lend itself to photographing the Castle - you have to point the camera steeply up, and as a result the perspective is distorted. The Castle was a seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, and is not in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.

Category A Listed castle. The Scandinavian name Brodick or Breiðvík (Broad Bay) suggests there has been a fortress on the site since the 5th century. At some point late in the 13th century Edward I of England invaded Scotland and around this time an English garrison was stationed at Brodick. Fragments of 13th century fabric have been identified within the building. James Douglas, Lord of Douglas dislodge the English from Brodick in 1307. The castle was badly damaged by an English force in 1406 and further destruction was inflicted by John of Islay, Lord of the Isles, in 1455. James III granted the castle to James Hamilton and his son James Hamilton, 2nd Lord Hamilton was created Earl of Arran in 1503. By 1510 the castle had been rebuilt in the form of a tower house but suffered at the hands of the Campbells and the MacLeans. In the mid 16th century Lord Arran the Regent of Scotland continued to enlarge and expand the castle. Subject to many seizures in the 17th century, in 1650, Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads had taken control of the castle and had extended it by building an Artillery battery to defend the Firth at this strategic position. In the following years Brodick was used mainly as an occasional sporting estate. In the nineteenth century, it became residence for the eldest son of the 10th Duke, William Alexander Archibald Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton and 8th Duke of Brandon. In 1844, massive building work was undertaken at the castle, almost tripling the size of the building, under the architect James Gillespie Graham (1776-1855). Graham's southwest tower had to be redesigned in a stronger manner after it collapsed in 1844, allegedly due to the quality of the mortar used. The Castle and gardens were acquired by the National Trust for Scotland from the Lady Jean Fforde in 1957 in lieu of death duties.

Looking across the southern façade of Brodick Castle. There has been some kind of fortress on this site since the middle of the first millennium, but this castle has grown over the centuries from a small castle in the C12th or C13th it was enlarged in the early C16th. However most of what is seen today dates from the mid C19th when it was massively enlarged, nearly tripling its size. It is owned now by the National Trust for Scotland and is open in the summer months - for details, see their website: https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/brodick-castle/planning-your-visit

This red sandstone castle nestles at the foot of Goat Fell mountain, two kilometres north of Brodick,

The Old MV Saturn sailing into Brodick Bay with Goat Fell behind.