The Bishop's Castle (also known as Glasgow Castle, the Bishop's Palace, and the Archbishop's Palace) was a medieval castle in Glasgow, Scotland. It stood to the west of Glasgow Cathedral, covering much of the present day Cathedral Square. The castle served as the residence of the Archbishops of Glasgow until 1689. [1] Following the Glorious Revolution, the castle became the property of the Crown. It fell into disrepair during the 18th century, having been used as a quarry from 1755, and the site was cleared in 1789 to make way for the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
The origins of the castle are unclear, but the first development was probably in the 12th century and it was first recorded in charters in 1258. [2] [3] It had become an episcopal residence by the time of the Wars of Scottish Independence, when William Wallace recaptured the castle from the English in 1296. In 1301 the castle was garrisoned again by Edward I. [2]
In the 15th century a 5-storey keep was built by Bishop Cameron, this was later extended with additional fortifications and buildings, constructed by later bishops. Archbishop Beaton added a large corner tower, and surrounded the whole complex with an ashlar wall with crenellated and reinforced bastions. Archbishop Dunbar built a round-towered gatehouse in the south-east corner between 1524 and 1547. [3] The central keep served as the residence of the bishops and archbishops, and was called the Bishop's Palace or Archbishop's Palace. It was surrounded by a ditch and was accessed by a drawbridge. The castle played a role in the many political battles during the 16th century, including the protracted struggle between supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her enemies. It changed hands six times between 1513 and 1570, and was occupied by French troops at one point. In 1544 it was defended against Regent Arran and in 1560 defended for Arran.
The castle fell into disrepair during the 17th century, despite an attempt at repair by Archbishop Ross in the 1680s, [3] and was gradually dismantled for its stone. It was finally demolished completely in 1789, to make way for the construction of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Foundations of the castle were discovered during excavations for the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in the 1980s. The museum building was designed by architect Ian Begg to reflect the style of the Bishop's Castle. [4] [5] A stone from the castle, with a modern plaque, is located in Cathedral Square, marking the location of the keep. [2]
A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences.
Glasgow Cathedral is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the province of Glasgow, until the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century. Glasgow Cathedral and St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney are the only medieval cathedrals in Scotland to have survived the Reformation virtually intact. The medieval Bishop's Castle stood to the west of the cathedral until 1789. Although notionally it lies within the Townhead area of the city, the Cathedral grounds and the neighboring Necropolis are considered to be their own district within the city.
Townhead is a district within the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of Glasgow's oldest areas, and contains two of its major surviving medieval landmarks – Glasgow Cathedral and the Provand's Lordship.
Crookston Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the Pollok area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is located some five miles southwest of the city centre, on a hill overlooking the Levern Water, just before its confluence with the White Cart Water. Crookston Castle was built by the Stewarts of Darnley around 1400, and is set within earthworks constructed in the 12th century. Once the property of the earls and dukes of Lennox, the castle was extensively repaired following a siege in 1544, and it is the only surviving medieval castle in Glasgow.
St Andrews Castle is a ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The castle sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining North Sea. There has been a castle standing at the site since the times of Bishop Roger (1189–1202), son of the Earl of Leicester. It housed the burgh’s wealthy and powerful bishops while St Andrews served as the ecclesiastical centre of Scotland during the years before the Protestant Reformation. In their Latin charters, the Archbishops of St Andrews wrote of the castle as their palace, signing, "apud Palatium nostrum."
Provand's Lordship is a medieval historic house museum in Glasgow, Scotland, located in the Townhead area at the top of Castle Street within sight of Glasgow Cathedral and next to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art.
Craignethan Castle is a ruined castle in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located above the River Nethan, a tributary of the River Clyde, at NS816464. The castle is two miles west of the village of Crossford, and 4.5 miles north-west of Lanark. Built in the first half of the 16th century, Craignethan is recognised as an excellent early example of a sophisticated artillery fortification, although its defences were never fully tested.
The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art is a museum of religion in Glasgow, Scotland. It has been described as the only public museum in the world devoted solely to this subject, although other notable museums of this kind are the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg and the Catharijneconvent in Utrecht.
The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around 8 hectares, and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was originally opened in 1794, with the present main building dating from 1914, with a major extension completed in 1982.
Haggs Castle is a 16th-century tower house, located in the neighbourhood of Pollokshields, in Glasgow, Scotland. The richly decorated building was restored in the 19th century, and today is once more occupied as a residence.
Strathaven Castle is located in the centre of the small town of Strathaven, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The ruin is closed to the public and has been for 5 years. A Friends of Strathaven Castle Group was set up in February 2023 to promote the repair and renewed access to the towns major landmark.
Bedlay Castle is a former defensive castle, dating from the late 16th and 17th centuries. It is located between Chryston and Moodiesburn in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The castle is just off the A80 road, around 8 miles to the north-east of Glasgow, at NS692700. This castle has several ghostlore stories associated with it.
Preston Tower is a ruined L-plan keep in the ancient Scottish village of Prestonpans. It is situated within a few metres of two other historic houses, Hamilton House and Northfield House.
The Old Bishop's Palace in Oslo was the residence of the Roman Catholic bishops of Oslo. The estate is located in what is now called Gamlebyen in Oslo, Norway. Various remnants of the medieval bishop's original palace are still visible.
Schloss Johannisburg is a schloss in the town of Aschaffenburg, in Franconia, in the state of Bavaria, Germany. It was erected between 1605 and 1614 by the architect Georg Ridinger for Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg, Prince Bishop of Mainz. Until 1803, it was the second residence of the Archbishop and Prince Elector of Mainz. It is constructed of red sandstone, the typical building material of the Spessart, the hills near Aschaffenburg.
Cathedral Square is a public square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Cathedral Square and precinct is situated adjacent to Glasgow Cathedral on High Street/Castle Street at John Knox Street. Nearby are many famous Glasgow landmarks such as Provand's Lordship, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, the Necropolis, the ceremonial Barony Hall of Strathclyde University, and the Glasgow Evangelical Church at the Square. It is one of six public squares and precincts in the city centre.
Farme Castle was located in Rutherglen, to the south-east of Glasgow, Scotland. It stood 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of Farme Cross where the A724 meets the A749 trunk road. The castle keep acted as one corner of a courtyard, formed by an extension in the form of a castellated mansion. High walls and subsidiary buildings completed the courtyard. There was an ornate arched gateway to the courtyard adjacent to the keep. The old keep was of three storeys and a garret, above a corbelled-out parapet with machicolations and water spouts.
The Battle of Glasgow was fought on 16 March 1544, between Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and the Scottish Regent James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, and their adherents, during the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots. There was a second battle at Glasgow Muir in May 1544, known as the Battle of the Butts, between Arran and the Earl of Glencairn.
The Bishop's Palace is a 17th-century building situated in the north-east corner of the Cathedral Close in Lichfield, Staffordshire in England.
The architecture of Scotland in the Middle Ages includes all building within the modern borders of Scotland, between the departure of the Romans from Northern Britain in the early fifth century and the adoption of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century, and includes vernacular, ecclesiastical, royal, aristocratic and military constructions. The first surviving houses in Scotland go back 9500 years. There is evidence of different forms of stone and wooden houses exist and earthwork hill forts from the Iron Age. The arrival of the Romans led to the abandonment of many of these forts. After the departure of the Romans in the fifth century, there is evidence of the building of a series of smaller "nucleated" constructions sometimes utilizing major geographical features, as at Dunadd and Dumbarton. In the following centuries new forms of construction emerged throughout Scotland that would come to define the landscape.