Loch Leven Castle

It is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven,Scotland.It was built around 1300.

The island of Lochleven is associated with many events and has been visited by King Robert Bruce (in 1313 and 1323). Others were held prisoner within the castle’s walls; such as Robert, the High Stewart, in 1369, two years before his coronation as Robert II .(the first of the royal house of Stewart)

But the castle is most famous for the imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots in 1567-68.

Between 20 and 23 July, Mary miscarried twins. On 24 July, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her son James.Moray was made regent, while Bothwell ( Duke of Orkney) was driven into exile. He was imprisoned in Denmark, became insane and died in 1578.

In May 1568 Mary escaped across the loch and before that month was out she was in exile in England. She never saw her native land again.

Today the castle island is four times the size it was in Mary’s day, the loch having receded over the centuries