Inverness Castle: A Fortress Reimagined

Did you know that Shakespeare’s famous play, Macbeth, had Inverness Castle as a setting? It is the site where Macbeth was murdered in the story, and this was probably inspired by the original Inverness Castle that was ordered to be built by the real Macbeth south of the modern castle.

The real Macbeth was not murdered at Inverness Castle but died in battle of Lumphanan and was buried at Iona Abbey.

The patron saint of Derry, in Ireland, visited Inverness around 565 A.D, travelling from his base in Iona, where he met the Pictish King in the earliest known Inverness Castle near the current castle site. It is believed that the meeting with the King resulted in his conversion to Christianity and the beginning of the Picts’ introduction to Christianity as a whole.

St Columba’s visit to the area also saw him stay at Loch Ness, where it is said he blessed a well, at nearby Invermoriston, and purified the water to expel evil spirits that poisoned the water. The well is known today as St Columba’s Well.

Keeping on the subject of wells, Inverness Castle’s well is one of the oldest parts of Inverness Castle.

The structure that currently sits on the grounds of the castle has survived from the castle’s original medieval roots. The well was fully restored in 1909, but considering how many times Inverness Castle has been destroyed throughout the last hundred years, it is a miracle that any part survived at all.

Another fascinating fact is that in 1652, Oliver Cromwell both extended and strengthened Inverness Castle. He built a hospital, ale houses, a granary, taverns, and a clock tower – a number of these buildings extended further out beyond the castle. Oliver Cromwell’s constructions did not last long as many of them were taken down within a decade, however his Clocktower still stands on Cromwell Road not too far from the modern castle.

It is also worth noting that some of the stone used to build Oliver Crowell’s Inverness Citadel was repurposed in the construction of the original Fort George and the building of the first stone bridge that extended across the nearby River Ness.

During the Mary Queen of Scots 3-day siege of Inverness Castle in 1562, it is believed that she stayed in a building on nearby Bridge Street. The building was named Queen Mary’s House, but sadly it was demolished in 1968. Luckily pictures of the building still exist online, and you can see what the house would have looked like.

Castle Street is just opposite the castle, and many walk past the stunning castle every day, as it is right in the center of the city. In the modern day there are buildings on one side of the road opposite the castle that sits high above the city. Unfortunately, there were a few landslips in the past with the most notable in 1932 where several houses were destroyed, but thankfully there were no casualties. Eventually, the buildings that remained were demolished and the bank was stabilised in 1967.

Until the year 2000, Inverness Castle was overlooking and protecting the town of Inverness, but for many years before the capital of the Highlands was increasingly growing at a fast pace.

During the turn of the millennium, Inverness was granted city status, and as a result, Inverness Castle (and its various incarnations) has been around since Inverness was a small town. Despite the city status, many people who have visited from bigger countries described Inverness as having a nice village feel in contrast to their busy cities.

If you live outside Scotland and are considering travelling to the country and need to convert your country’s currency to Sterling Pounds, then if you happen to come across a £50 Scottish note in your possession, examine it carefully as Inverness Castle is featured on the bill. Strangely, it took until 2005 before Inverness Castle was featured on the Scottish note.