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Photo: Anne Burgess, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Medieval castle perched on a rocky promontory, with cliffs plunging down to the sea. Earlier forts were destroyed so the present structure was built circa 1400 and extended into a palace from 1581; it was partly dismantled in 1720. One of its famous episodes was the protection of the Scottish crown jewels and regalia. After Charles I was executed, his son landed in Scotland and was proclaimed King Charles II at Scone. Oliver Cromwell came in pursuit and eventually Charles had to flee, only regaining the throne from 1660. Meanwhile the crown jewels were brought to Dunnottar for safekeeping then, when Cromwell laid siege, they were somehow smuggled out to be hidden in Kinneff church 10 miles south.
Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the northeast coast of Scotland, about 2 miles south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
14th-century towerhouse, rebuilt in 1761 as a Scottish Gothic-style Palladian manor. It's been converted into private dwellings and isn't open to visitors.