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Visiting information

Threave Castle
nr Castle Douglas
Galloway DG7 1RX
Tel: 07711 223101

For opening times and admission prices please contact Threave Castle directly.

Websites

This website contains links to other websites which are not under the control of and are not maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

Historic Scotland
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
Responsible for many of Scotland's historic monuments and properties, the Historic Scotland website features details of all the properties under its care as well as information about historical re-enactments.

Threave Castle
www.aboutscotland.com/threave/castle.html
A potted history of the castle and a selection of good photographs.

The Gazetteer for Scotland
www.geo.ed.ac.uk
The Gazetteer for Scotland is a vast geographical database, featuring details of towns, villages, glens and of course, castles from the Scottish Borders to the Northern Isles.

Books

Scotland's Castles by Chris Tabraham (Batsford/Historic Scotland, 1997) £15.99
Accessible and well-illustrated introduction to Scottish castles. Chris Tabraham was one of the leaders of the dig which discovered the vanished buildings at Threave.

'Architecture: the changing needs of society' by Geoffrey Stell, in Scottish Society in the Fifteenth Century, edited by Jennifer M Brown (E. Arnold, 1977) £19.50
In this article Geoffrey Stell questions the traditional view of Scottish castles as a 'barometer' of political unrest, and suggests ways in which they can be read differently.

Scottish Architecture: From the accession of the Stewarts to the Reformation, 1371-1560 by Richard Fawcett (Edinburgh University Press, 1994) £39
A good overview of Scottish architecture, both secular and ecclesiastical, with a chapter on castles.

The Scottish Castle by Stewart Cruden (Nelson, 1960) Out of print but available from some libraries.
The standard textbook on Scottish Castles, Cruden's book still has plenty to recommend it, even though some of the ideas (for example, 'a tower and nothing but a tower') have been challenged by Chris Tabraham and Geoffrey Stell.

The Black Douglases by Michael Brown (Tuckwell Press, 1998) £30
A comprehensive treatment of the most powerful noble dynasty in late medieval Scotland until its fall in 1455, of which the siege at Threave was the last act in the drama.

James II by Christine McGladdery (John Donald, 1990) £12.50
First biography of the king who hounded the Black Douglases into exile. The artillery platform at Threave Castle was built in anticipation of an assault from James and his heavy guns.

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