Loch Ness & Urquhart Castle, Scotland (Travel)

Urquhart Castle & the Loch Ness Monster

Castles & Lore in Highlands of Scotland

The Scottish countryside is littered with castles – each one very unique and different. The question is which one to visit and not get over saturated with them!

I had never heard of Urquhart Castle before this tour – but I had heard of Loch Ness. Who hasn’t heard about the Loch Ness Monster, “Nessie?”

We selected a visit to Urquhart Castle because of its location on Loch Ness – infamously known for “Nessie” the Loch Ness Monster to which the Urquhart Castle has been closely tied. We were pleasantly surprised at not only the rugged beauty of the castle ruins, but also its rich history. In the end, we found the castle was more impressive than anything to do with Nessie!

Loch Ness & The Urquhart Castle

Urquhart Castle can be found on the shores of Loch Ness – technically “Lake Ness” (Loch is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet). It is 24 miles long, 1 mile at its widest point and up to 1,000 feet deep. Loch Ness fills the northern half of the Great Glen fault from Fort William to Inverness.

The day held an ominous mood as dark clouds threatened rain. The wind whistled through the craggy castle walls. The gray, overcast sky added to the atmosphere and mystery that lurked beneath and beyond as we strained to get a glimpse of Nessie!

Fortunately, the rain held off until we got back to the bus.

Urquhart Castle: Brief History

The iconic ruins of Urquhart Castle hold nearly a thousand years of Scotland’s history. When Edward I invaded in 1296, it was one of the great castles taken by the English. The castle and glen were repeatedly raided during the later Middle Ages by the Lords of the Isles until the 1500s in their effort to expand their territory. During the Wars of Independence, control of the castle passed back and forth between the English and the Scots.

In the 1300s, the Scots’ struggle for independence heavily involved Urquhart. The castle came under the control of Robert the Bruce when he became King of Scots in 1306. It was the only Highland castle to hold out against the English during the bleak days following Robert’s death in 1332.

In the 1500s, the castle was given to the Clan Grant. Their task was to repair it and bring it back into use.

In 1689, the castle was garrisoned for the last time. The Catholic King James VII had been exiled. Power went to the Protestant monarchs Mary II and William II. In 1692, during the Jacobite Risings, to guarantee that it could never again be a military stronghold, the towering gatehouse was deliberately blown up. It is those ruins that the visitor can experience today.

The Urquhart trebuchet “catapult” is on display on the castle grounds. When viewed up close, one can really get the magnitude of this impressive structure of engineering. It would have been used to help defend the castle against invading forces.

Urquhart Castle & The Loch Ness Monster

Urquhart Castle has long been associated with a number of ‘supposed’ sightings for “Nessie,” the famous Loch Ness Monster. The mystery of a monster in the loch goes as far back as the 6th century when it was first sighted and reported by St. Columba on a visit to Loch Ness.

Nessie Frenzy begins…

The legend sprung to life in the 1930s when ambiguous photos were taken, creating a frenzy of interest in the creature. A now famous 1955 photograph of Nessie with Urquhart Castle is considered the earliest and possibly only actual photograph. Peter A. McNab’s black and white photo shows 2 long black humps seen in the distant water, traveling towards a shadowy Urquhart Castle.

Recent Nessie Sightings

More recently, according to official records, a total of 11 sightings were reported in 2017 and 13 sightings in 2018. Per these sightings, Nessie was witnessed swimming around the waters of Loch Ness. Out of 13 sightings in the Loch Ness area in 2018, 4 were spotted around Urquhart Castle. The most prominent sighting was in March 2018. An American tourist noticed a dark shape around 40 feet in length moving in the water towards the Urquhart Castle. Soon after, in April 2018, an Irish man took a 10 minute video footage from the Loch Ness webcam which apparently showed a creature traveling the water near Urquhart Bay. Unfortunately, the creature sank after being scared away by 2 nearby boats.

What does Nessie look like? She is commonly depicted in 1 of 2 forms. (Sources refer to Nessie as “she” – so I’ll go with that too.) One form has the body of an aquatic dinosaur-like creature with her body hidden beneath the water. She has a long neck which stretches high out of the water into the open air. The other form is like a gigantic eel with 2 humps seen above water level and a long neck like a giraffe. In both instances, the descriptions suggests that the sea creature needs to surface every once in a while to get a breath of oxygen.

Nessie & Urquhart Castle: in the Media

Urquhart Castle has been fully featured in only one film: “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” (1970s). Sherlock is led to the iconic castle in a missing persons case. In one scene, Watson spots Nessie surfacing around the waters of the castle.

Nessie has been more prominently focused on in the “Loch Ness,” a 1996 film starring Ted Danson. Scientist Dr. John Dempsey (Danson) travels to Loch Ness to dispel the centuries-old myth of the Loch Ness Monster. He teams up with another scientist, one with a strong belief in Nessie, and they set out to prove her existence. The movie suggests that beneath Urquhart Castle is an underground cavern in which Nessie dwells.

For the Nessie lover and believer, all sources recommend: BE ON THE LOOKOUT! The Urquhart Castle is a great vantage point – you never know when Nessie will next surface for air – and – she could very well be in her cavern under your feet.

Visit

• Address: Drumnadrochit, Inverness IV63 6XJ, United Kingdom
• historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/urquhart-castle/

Sources

• Lecture on Tour by unnamed Urquhart Castle tour guide
• Urquhart Castle information on site and in the movie shown in the visitor center
• historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/urquhart-castle/
• historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/urquhart-castle/history/

• wildernessscotland.com/blog/urquhart-castle-history-nessie-sherlock-holmes/

Related Sources