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Caerlaverock Castle

Castles in DumfriesshireClan MaxwellHistoric Scotland properties in Dumfries and GallowayHistoric house museums in Dumfries and GallowayRenaissance architecture in Scotland
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Dumfries and GallowayTriangular buildingsUse British English from August 2020Wars of Scottish Independence
Caerlaverock Castle from the air
Caerlaverock Castle from the air

Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle first built in the 13th century. It is located on the southern coast of Scotland, eleven kilometres (seven miles) south of Dumfries, on the edge of the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve. Caerlaverock was a stronghold of the Maxwell family from the 13th century until the 17th century, when the castle was abandoned. It was besieged by the English during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and underwent several partial demolitions and reconstructions over the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th century, the Maxwells were created Earls of Nithsdale, and built a new lodging within the walls, described as among "the most ambitious early classical domestic architecture in Scotland". In 1640 the castle was besieged for the last time and was subsequently abandoned. Although demolished and rebuilt several times, the castle retains the distinctive triangular plan first laid out in the 13th century. Caerlaverock Castle was built to control trade in early times.The castle, which is protected as a scheduled monument, is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, and is a popular tourist attraction.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Caerlaverock Castle (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 54.9756408 ° E -3.5239534 °
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Address

Caerlaverock Castle

B725
DG1 4RT
Scotland, United Kingdom
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Phone number
Historic Scotland

call+441387770244

Website
historicenvironment.scot

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linkWikiData (Q1025398)
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Caerlaverock Castle from the air
Caerlaverock Castle from the air
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WWT Caerlaverock
WWT Caerlaverock

WWT Caerlaverock is wetland nature reserve in southwest Scotland, one of ten reserves in Britain operated by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust founded by Sir Peter Scott. It covers a 587 hectares (1,450 acres) site at Eastpark Farm, on the north shore of the Solway Firth to the south of Dumfries. It is a wild nature reserve with a network of screened approaches and several observation towers. There is a visitor centre and farmhouse accommodation. The site received 16,105 visitors in 2019.Caerlaverock is home to one of only two UK populations of the "living fossil" Triops cancriformis, the horseshoe shrimp. It is also home to the UK's most northerly population of the natterjack toad.Almost the entire Svalbard population of barnacle goose overwinters in the Solway Firth area, with many of the birds often at Caerlaverock for part or all of the winter; their protection by the reserve has enabled the population to recover from just 500 birds in the 1940s, to over 25,000 now. In 2016 the peak count on the reserve was 15,980 in October. Other high counts of wildfowl that year included 221 whooper swan, 2,457 Northern pintail, 3,000 Eurasian teal, 1,230 Eurasian wigeon and 150 greater scaup. These numbers attract raptors such as peregrine falcon, common buzzard and hen harrier. Vagrant birds recorded on the reserve include common crane, long-billed dowitcher, red-breasted goose, snow goose, ring-necked duck and white-tailed plover.In January 2002, a new education centre was officially opened by King Harald V of Norway.A pair of ospreys have nested on the reserve since 2005. Their nest can be observed by webcam through the reserve's web-site during the day in the nesting season (April–August). At other times the webcam shows the whooper pond or a barn owl nest.