The castle is run and administered, for the most part, by Historic Environment Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government, although the Army remains responsible for some areas, including the New Barracks block and the military museums. [108], In 1905, responsibility for the castle was transferred from the War Office to the Office of Works,[109] although the garrison remained until 1923, when the troops moved to Redford Barracks in south-west Edinburgh. The only easy approach is from the town to the east, and the castle's defences are situated accordingly, with a series of gates protecting the route to the summit of the Castle Rock. Surprising as it may be to some people, Edinburgh plays host to a great variety of igneous rocks. Despite performing glorious deeds of valour and bravery, the poem relates that the Gododdin were massacred. [44], A century later, in 1286, on the death of King Alexander III, the throne of Scotland became vacant. [7], The summit of the Castle Rock is 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level, with rocky cliffs to the south, west, and north, rising to a height of 80 metres (260 ft) above the surrounding landscape. The summit of the rock is occupied by St Margaret's Chapel and 15th-century siege gun Mons Meg. [24][25], An archaeological excavation in the early 1990s uncovered evidence of the site having been settled during the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age, potentially making the Castle Rock the longest continually occupied site in Scotland. Subsequent glacial erosion was resisted by the dolerite, which protected the softer rock to the east, leaving a crag and tail formation. Work began in 1858, but was soon abandoned, and only the hospital building was eventually remodelled in 1897. Built on top of an extinct volcano, its geographical location made it one of the best defended fortresses in Scottish history. The royal Treasurer's Accounts of the time record a payment to soldiers for retrieving one of her stones from Wardie Muir near the Firth of Forth, fully 2 miles (3 km) from the castle. [118] The museum later moved to the former hospital in the western part of the castle, and the building now houses a function suite and an education centre. The Covenanters, led by Alexander Leslie, captured Edinburgh Castle after a short siege, although it was restored to Charles after the Peace of Berwick in June the same year. [95], The castle was almost taken in the first Jacobite rising in support of James Stuart, the "Old Pretender", in 1715. It was constructed in the Flanders on the orders of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1449, and given as a gift to King James II, the husband of his niece, in 1457. It survived the slighting of 1314, when the castle's defences were destroyed on the orders of Robert the Bruce, and was used as a gunpowder store from the 16th century, when the present roof was built. Robert Borthwick and a Frenchman, Antoine d'Arces, were involved in designing new artillery defences and fortifications in 1514, though it appears from lack of evidence that little of the planned work was carried out. The New Barracks contain both the Governor's House, which serves as the Officers' Mess, and the Regimental Headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. To promote the settlement and plantation of the new territory, the Baronetage of Nova Scotia was created in 1624. The summit of the rock is 130 metres above sea level, and it was on this exposed by defensively significant site that human occupation in the city began approximately 3,000 years ago. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age (2nd century AD), although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. [136] Adjacent to the gates are the large cisterns built to reduce the castle's dependency on well water and a former fire station, now used as a shop. It was then restored by Hippolyte Blanc in line with contemporary ideas of medieval architecture. The post of Governor of Edinburgh Castle is now a ceremonial post, held by the General Officer Commanding Scotland. [57] In 1639, in response to Charles' attempts to impose Episcopacy on the Scottish Church, civil war broke out between the King's forces and the Presbyterian Covenanters. The Army retains responsibility for these and for the Royal Scots Museum and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum. The castle itself is steeped in history, being the focus of many of the main events in the countryâs turbulent ⦠Over time, the environment changed in cycles, driven largely by changing sea level; you can see some of this variety at various places around the city (Sites: Water of Leith, Stockbridge; Barnâs Ness, East Lothian). [98] After their victory over the government army at Prestonpans on 21 September, the Jacobites attempted to blockade the castle. It is the remains of a volcanic pipe which cut through the surrounding sedimentary rock, before cooling to form very hard dolerite, a coarser-grained equivalent of basalt. This time, the Scottish assault was led by William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale. [57], Grange was a trusted lieutenant of the Regent, but after Moray's murder in January 1570 his allegiance to the King's cause began to waver. In the 1960s the castle was illustrated on £5 notes issued by the National Commercial Bank of Scotland,[175] and since 1987 it has featured on the reverse of £1 notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland. [91] The medieval royal castle was transformed into a garrison fortress, but continued to see military and political action. In 1565, the Queen made an unpopular marriage with Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and the following year, in a small room of the Palace at Edinburgh Castle, she gave birth to their son James, who would later be King of both Scotland and England. Vicky Leandros won for Luxembourg. [54] David's Tower was begun around 1367, and was incomplete when David died at the castle in 1371. Lothian became part of Scotland, during the reign of Indulf (r.954â962). [140], The Half Moon Battery, which remains a prominent feature on the east side of the castle, was built as part of the reconstruction works supervised by the Regent Morton, and was erected between 1573 and 1588. [93][94] Under the terms of the Acts of Union, which joined England and Scotland in 1707, Edinburgh was one of the four Scottish castles to be maintained and permanently garrisoned by the new British Army, the others being Stirling, Dumbarton and Blackness. [150], Following Oliver Cromwell's seizure of the castle in 1650, the Great Hall was converted into a barracks for his troops; and in 1737 it was subdivided into three storeys to house 312 soldiers. Three months after the murder of Darnley at Kirk o' Field in 1567, she married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, one of the chief murder suspects. A volcanic plug forms when magma within a conduit solidifies. [127] Adjacent to Mills Mount are the 18th-century cart sheds, now tea rooms. [113] The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, a World Heritage Site inscribed by UNESCO in 1995, is described as "dominated by a medieval fortress". [118] The Half Moon Battery was built around and over the ruins of David's Tower, two storeys of which survive beneath, with windows facing out onto the interior wall of the battery. [43] From 1437, Sir William Crichton was Keeper of Edinburgh Castle,[56] and soon after became Chancellor of Scotland. From the Esplanade the Half Moon Battery is prominent, with the Royal Palace to its left. [55] Following the death of Prince Albert in 1861, the architect David Bryce put forward a proposal for a 50-metre (160 ft) keep as a memorial, but Queen Victoria objected and the scheme was not pursued. Originally the Spur, a 16th-century hornwork, was located here. In an attempt to gain the regency of Scotland, Crichton sought to break the power of the Douglases, the principal noble family in the kingdom. [41] The structure may have been similar to the keep of Carlisle Castle, which David I began after 1135. [33] The territory around Edinburgh then became part of the Kingdom of Northumbria, which was itself absorbed by England in the 10th century. John Barbour's narrative poem The Brus relates how a party of thirty hand-picked men were guided by one William Francis, a member of the garrison who knew of a route along the north face of the Castle Rock and a place where the wall might be scaled. [66], James IV was killed in battle at Flodden Field, on 9 September 1513. [90], In May 1650, the Covenanters signed the Treaty of Breda, allying themselves with the exiled Charles II against the English Parliamentarians, who had executed his father the previous year. [142] The square is formed by the Royal Palace to the east, the Great Hall to the south, the Queen Anne Building to the west, and the National War Memorial to the north. [55] Following the construction of the New Barracks in the 1790s, it became a military hospital until 1897. 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