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Latitude: 56.3422 / 56°20'31"N
Longitude: -2.7904 / 2°47'25"W
OS Eastings: 351240
OS Northings: 716927
OS Grid: NO512169
Mapcode National: GBR 2R.4925
Mapcode Global: WH7S0.3VJD
Entry Name: St Andrews Castle
Scheduled Date: 14 February 1994
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM90259
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Secular: castle
Location: St Andrews and St Leonards
County: Fife
Electoral Ward: St Andrews
Traditional County: Fife
The monument consists of the surviving portions of St Andrews Castle and the areas likely to have been occupied by its outer courtyards.
St Andrews Castle is a multi-period, composite, structure of medieval and Renaissance style, built by the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews. It was started c.1200, but the matrix of what is now seen is a pentagonal courtyard castle built by Bishop Walter Traill in the years around 1400, following the destruction of its predecessor in the Wars of Independence. Artillery blockhouses were built to replace the outer angle towers in the early 16th century, and fragments remain at the SW corner.
These were largely destroyed in the siege which followed the murder of Cardinal Beaton in 1546, during which siege a mine and counter-mine were dug beneath the ditch. The last major addition was the rebuilding of the entrance front in the 1550s by Archbishop Hamilton, in an advanced early-Renaissance style. The castle is now extensively ruined, with much of the E range, which included the hall, having fallen over the sea-cliff.
The area to be scheduled is defined by sea-cliffs to the N and E, by the boundary with Castlecliff House to the W, and by the boundary wall along the Scores to the S, and includes the remains of the castle and the areas of its outer courtyards to the W and S. It measures a maximum of 120m WSW-ENE by 115m NW-SE, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance because it is one of the best-preserved medieval episcopal residences in Scotland, and because of the outstanding quality of its medieval and Renaissance architecture. It also has the best-preserved mine and counter-mine in Britain, and is of considerable importance in the study of the development of siege and artillery warfare.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
RCAHMS records the monument as NO 51 NW 3.00.
Historic Environment Scotland Properties
St. Andrews Castle
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/st-andrews-castle
Find out more
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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