Loch Leven Castle

 castle, ruins

Located on Castle Island in Loch (Lake) Leven, Lochleven Castle was Mary Queen of Scots' prison from June 1567 to May 1568, and the place where she was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son James VI on 24 July 1567.
This was probably the last of a series of fortresses on the island stretching back at least as far as one built here by King Dongart of the Picts around AD490.
This is a remarkably complete example of a "castle of enclosure", an irregularly shaped curtain wall preserved from quarrying by the castle's island location, complete with an unusual and probably very early tower house at one corner and the remains of a smaller circular tower at another.
(Around 1830 the water level in Loch Leven was lowered by over a meter and the island on which Lochleven Castle stands quadrupled in size. In it's days an an active royal fortress, the castle occupied virtually all of the then much smaller island.)
What remains today is only a half of the castle that originally stood here. The sequencing of the various curtain walls is unclear, but for much of its life what we see today formed the inner courtyard of the original castle. Less remains of the outer courtyard, which would have housed ancillary buildings and accommodation plus the gardens walked by Mary Queen of Scots during her captivity. The outer courtyard would also have been enclosed by a curtain wall and would have extended north of today's gate almost as far as the ticket office and visitor facilities.
The most significant structure is the Tower House, which may date back to the very early 1300s, making it one of the oldest in Scotland. It is the usual vertical stack of rooms and functions. At the second floor level would have been the lord's hall, with two levels of (now roofless and floorless) apartments above it in which Mary Queen of Scots spent most of her imprisonment.
Today's visitor approaches Lochleven Castle in the same way as Scottish Monarchs who visited, by boat.
The Historic Scotland ferry operates a shuttle service, and the ferry fare is included in the admission to the castle.
Lochleven Castle is open to the public from April to September.