Qualla: Ravenscraig Castle https://qualla.com/ravenscraig-castle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:23 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/z/ravenscraig-castle-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Ravenscraig Castle https://qualla.com/ravenscraig-castle Ravenscraig Castle: Introduction https://qualla.com/ravenscraig-castle/ Photo credit Otter, CC BY-SA 3.0. King James II of Scotland died in an accident with his own artillery. On 3 August 1460, besieging Roxburgh Castle, he stood too near one of his cherished cannon when it exploded. He had loved the new technology of gunpowder warfare - had named his bombards, had brought them to siege after siege. In the months before his death he had begun something new on a rocky promontory above Kirkcaldy on the Firth of Forth: a castle designed not just to use artillery but to withstand it. His widow, Mary of Guelders, finished what he started. Ravenscraig may be the first castle in Scotland built to take cannon fire.

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Image: Otter | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/z/ravenscraig-castle-wp/gcvz-ravenscraig-castle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Ravenscraig Castle: Mary's Memorial https://qualla.com/ravenscraig-castle/ Photo credit User:Jonathan Oldenbuck, CC BY-SA 3.0. Construction began around 1460 and Mary of Guelders, James II's widow, carried it forward after his death - intending the castle as both a dower house and a memorial. She kept building until her own death in December 1463. The mason Henry Merlioun, working under the master of wor...

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Image: User:Jonathan Oldenbuck | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/z/ravenscraig-castle-wp/gcvz-ravenscraig-castle-marys-memorial.mp3 0:06 2 full Ravenscraig Castle: Walls Built for Cannon https://qualla.com/ravenscraig-castle/ Photo credit Jim Bain, CC BY-SA 2.0. The castle is small but its design is deliberate. Built on a narrow rocky promontory, it is defended on three sides by steep cliffs falling into the Firth of Forth. The main defence faces north, toward land. Two D-plan towers with outer walls 4.25 metres thick - thicker than almo...

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Image: Jim Bain | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/z/ravenscraig-castle-wp/gcvz-ravenscraig-castle-walls-built-for-cannon.mp3 0:06 3 full Ravenscraig Castle: Cromwell and the Linoleum King https://qualla.com/ravenscraig-castle/ Photo credit Podroznikluka at Polish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. During Cromwell's 1650-51 invasion of Scotland, Ravenscraig was attacked and damaged. The castle remained in Sinclair hands - the family later built Dysart House nearby in 1755 and 1756 - and eventually passed to the St Clair-Erskines, Earls of Rosslyn. In 1896 the 5th Earl sold ...

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Image: Podroznikluka at Polish Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/z/ravenscraig-castle-wp/gcvz-ravenscraig-castle-cromwell-and-the-linoleum-king.mp3 0:06 4 full