Blackness Castle

01 / The documented castle

A ship built of stone

Blackness began as a fifteenth-century residence for the Crichtons, beside the port serving the royal burgh of Linlithgow. Historic Environment Scotland identifies its builder as Sir George Crichton and records its annexation by the Crown in 1453. Over time, a noble household gave way to the demands of government, soldiers and prisoners.

The familiar description, ‘the ship that never sailed’, makes immediate sense from the water. The northern tower forms the prow, the central tower the main mast and the substantial southern tower the stern. Those nautical names have a history of their own: HES notes that a plan from around 1690 already uses ‘main mast’ and ‘stem tower’.

The comparison helps you read the building. It also makes the contrast striking: a vessel-shaped fortress whose occupants could find themselves going nowhere for years.

02 / Built for conflict

Walls made to answer cannon

Between 1537 and 1542, James V transformed Blackness into a powerful artillery fortress and state prison. The threat from Henry VIII’s England shaped the work. Thick masonry and gun positions turned the landward approach into a formidable obstacle.

Sir James Hamilton of Finnart oversaw the changes. The walls were raised and thickened, while the entrance moved to the west. A vaulted gun gallery, known as a caponier, protected the approach from within the defensive ditch. It is a rare surviving feature of Scotland’s early artillery defences.

Even these alterations could not protect Blackness indefinitely. During the Cromwellian invasion, bombardment devastated its defences and forced the garrison to surrender. Repairs and further military adaptations followed. The castle we explore today is the result of repeated responses to changing weapons and purposes, rather than a single medieval building left untouched.

03 / People behind the walls

A mother’s petitions and a servant’s disgrace

Blackness’s prison history is most affecting when names replace generalities. In her research for HES, castle steward Carine Rommes recounts the imprisonment of Barbara Cunningham, Lady Caldwell, and her daughter Jean in 1683. Their detention followed an accusation that Lady Caldwell had hosted a Presbyterian minister preaching at her Glasgow home.

The two women were closely confined, with only occasional supervised exercise. Jean became ill and was eventually released following her mother’s petitions. Lady Caldwell remained for more than three years; she was even refused a visit to another daughter who was dying of fever.

An earlier prisoner was Margaret Hartsyde, a servant of Anne of Denmark. Accused in 1608 of stealing royal jewellery, she was held at Blackness before trial. She and her husband were later cleared by royal warrant in 1619. These lives give the prison a human scale. Neither woman should be assigned to a haunting simply because her documented suffering offers a compelling story.

04 / The reported hauntings

An angry knight and a room that would not stay quiet

The most vivid account concerns a woman visiting with her two young sons in the late 1990s. According to a Richard Jones passage reproduced by Great Castles from Haunted Britain and Ireland, an armoured figure appeared in the central prison tower and angrily pursued her out. The published passage does not name the woman or give an exact date, and it does not say that both children also saw the figure.

Jones also recounts a Halloween overnight visit by a group who had obtained the custodian’s permission. They heard scraping and banging resembling furniture being moved on the floor below. One person investigated and found nothing displaced; the noises resumed after he rejoined the others.

These are attributed reports with memorable details, but no witness statements or recordings accompany the reproduced passage. Their repetition in later castle guides does not supply additional independent witnesses. The knight remains unidentified, and the source of those particular sounds remains unresolved.

05 / From the HSI archive

Returning to listen more carefully

Haunted Scotland’s published Blackness account preserves visits made in 2013 and 2014. It describes a warm, windy visit and noises around the mast tower’s prison stairwell: banging, creaking and groaning that added considerably to the atmosphere. The writer expressly says that nothing witnessed could be directly attributed to the paranormal.

A return in January 2014 brought a useful development. Further checking pointed to the windows as the likely source of the stairwell noises, with wind along the estuary an important condition to consider. That finding belongs to these HSI visits; it cannot retrospectively settle what a different group heard on another night.

The article also mentions audio awaiting analysis and promises a later update. It provides no completed findings or identified EVP. We therefore preserve the observation and its likely explanation without turning an old promise of further work into a result. The helpful curator and the enjoyment of exploring the castle are part of the account too.

06 / Another view of Blackness

From military stores to a screen landmark

The pier and the barrack buildings outside the older walls belong to Blackness’s later working life as Scotland’s central munitions depot. They are reminders that the castle continued serving practical military purposes long after the age of knights. Its use extended into the First World War before it became a visitor attraction.

Modern audiences may recognise it from Outlander, Mary Queen of Scots or Outlaw King, all named by HES among productions filmed here. Knowing a screen scene can make an arrival especially vivid, while the castle’s own history rewards a second look beyond the camera’s framing.

There is life beyond the walls as well. The foreshore and mudflats to the east form part of a protected wildlife site, providing feeding grounds for overwintering birds. Blackness’s atmosphere includes that wider shore, changing light and open water.

07 / Plan your visit

Take time over the ground beneath your feet

On 15 September 2026, HES listed Blackness as open for ticketed visits. Its published hours were 9.30am–5pm from April to September and 10am–4pm from October to March, with last entry 45 minutes before closing. Check the official page for seasonal holiday closures, current notices and booking before travelling.

The ground is a significant part of the visit. Rock and cobbles are uneven and can be slippery when wet; the towers and wall walk involve historic stairs, with some sections lacking handrails. HES lists one accessible parking space but no adapted toilet at the castle. Read its detailed access information or contact the site to plan around your needs.

Parking is limited and reserved for ticket holders, with seasonal time limits. The official page also describes public transport and cycle options. Wear suitable footwear and allow yourself to explore at a comfortable pace. The old Halloween story describes a separately permitted visit; an ordinary admission ticket is for the published visiting hours.

WATCH / HAUNTED SCOTLAND

Return with the team

Follow the investigation through these films. Listen in context, then return to the account above to compare the observations and interpretations.