Sanquhar Castle

Sanquhar Castle stands as a ruin on high ground north-east of Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway. The 13th-century stronghold overlooks the River Nith with a burn to the north and a deep ditch around the rest of its boundary. It once guarded the southern approach to the royal burgh of Sanquhar and lies on the Southern Upland Way. The castle was built by the Ross family and later passed to the Crichtons in the 14th century. In 1617 James VI and I visited and was greeted with a display so lavish it ruined the Crichtons financially. The castle changed hands in the mid 17th century when the Crichtons sold it to Sir William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry. From then on the structure steadily decayed until 1895, when John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, bought it. He tried to restore the ancestral home, following earlier successes at Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch in Wales. The work was carried out by Robert Weir Schultz, who rebuilt parts to make them more stable and square. What remains today mixes restored sections with original stonework, though the site is far from finished. The castle is protected as a scheduled monument. Visitors see a mix of old and new masonry, standing on ground that once controlled a key route. The River Nith flows below and the Southern Upland Way passes nearby. The site offers a quiet place to walk among the remains of a once grand fortress.