THE BISHOP'S CASTLE
For over 500 years the Bishop's
Castle was situated in that area around what is now the Cathedral Precinct and the St. Mungo Museum of Religious
Life and Art. Throughout its history it has also been referred to as the
Bishop's Palace and the Castle of Glasgow.
The date of the origin of the Castle is not known. There are believed to have been Bishops associated with the Glasgow area from at least the time of St. Mungo in the 6th century, but by the late 11th century the situation would appear to have become confused. With the contraction of the Roman Empire, contact with the centre of the Church had become attenuated, resulting in the divergence of Roman and Celtic practices. In addition, the breakdown of a strong and organised government led to depredations against the religious institutions left behind.
When David I (1084-1124-1153), who favoured the Roman Church over the Celtic, became lord of Strathclyde/Cumbria he set about the restoration and reorganisation of the See of Glasgow and had his tutor, John Achaius, appointed Bishop in 1117. After becoming King in 1124, he extended this reorganisation of the Church throughout the country.
The first stone built Cathedral at Glasgow was dedicated in the King's presence in 1136, and it seems certain that some form of dwelling would have been provided before this for the restored Bishop. There may have been some provision made for earlier Bishops, but no evidence of this can be ascertained. Given the wildness of the times, the new Bishop's dwelling is likely to have afforded not only shelter but some degree of security against attack and there is indeed archaeological evidence which indicates that earth and wooden structures had been enclosed behind a defensive ditch with a drawbridge.
When Glasgow became a Burgh of Barony after 1175 under the authority of the Bishop, his residence would then also be the centre for the civil rule of the burgh as well as the rest of his lands, and the changes would be reflected in the development of its structure. Initially, there may also have been separate facilities for residence and defence as the first reference to the Bishop's Palace in 1258 talks of it as being "without" the Castle of Glasgow. Whatever the earlier situation, all the buildings were eventually enclosed within a defensive wall.
The earliest structures of wood gave way to embattled stone buildings. Feudalism had also been more vigorously introduced into Scotland by King David, and this type of defensive structure was more in keeping with its tradition. The Palace-Castle complex must have been a significant stronghold by the late 13th century as it was worthy of occupation by the forces of Edward I during the War of Independence, along with his imposition of Anthony Beik as Bishop. During this period the Castle may have been subjected to an indirect assault by William Wallace himself. This affray being known as the Battle of the Bell o' the Brae.
The more substantial elaborations of the complex started with Bishop Cameron (1426-66) who built his Great Tower. This was a formidable structure of up to five storeys in height and was emblazoned with his arms. Apart from enhancing the defensive capability of the castle, it may also have been built to reflect the increased power of the Bishops with the erection of the Barony into a Regality in 1450.
In 1492, Glasgow was given metropolitan status, 20 years after St. Andrew's, with its own Archbishop. It was during the encumbancy of the first Archbishop Beaton (1509-22) that the whole complex was encircled with a 15 feet high defensive wall, with an additional tower, Beaton's Tower, incorporated into this. James IV (1472-1488-1513) had died in 1513 at Flodden and his son, now James V, was still a minor. There was the usual power struggle which saw John Stewart, the Duke of Albany eventually appointed as Regent with Archbishop Beaton made Chancellor of the Realm. The appointment of Albany was unpopular with many west coast noblemen, including the Earls of Lennox, Arran and Glencairn.
The Bishop's Castle had become quite an important stronghold for the Regent's allies and was used as a royal artillery depot. The brother-in-law of Lennox, John Mure of Caldwell, determined that it should be taken for his faction and managed achieve this in February, 1515. Albany was in France at the time but when he came to Scotland in May, 1515 he moved against the Castle and took it back after Mure's evacuation at his approach. Before he left however, Mure ransacked the place and caused great damage.
As the result of a civil action raised against him by Beaton, Mure was required to reimburse the Archbishop for the goods he had stolen and the damage he had caused In this action, Beaton provided a detailed list of the goods which had been taken from the Castle, and which gives some indication of the lifestyle to which the Glasgow Archbishops had become accustomed. It included 28 feather beds, clothing, jewellery, salted beef, pork, salmon, herring, cod and 3024 gallons of wine. Its status as a Castle is enhanced with the list of munitions which had been taken and which included 6 barrels of gunpowder, 11 guns, halberds, cross-bows, and steel helmets.
There was another siege of the repaired Castle in 1517 this time undertaken by the Earl of Lennox, but it failed when Albany moved against the attackers and Lennox withdrew. It would seem that the Archbishop had had good cause to fortify his seat of power in such turbulent times. He was translated to the See of St. Andrew's in 1522 where he remained until his death in 1539.
Gavin Dunbar was nominated to the See in 1524 and remained Archbishop until 1547. He proved to be a favourite with King James V, who assumed power in his own right in 1528, and was made Chancellor of the Realm from 1528-43. When Archbishop Dunbar gained occupancy of the Castle, he had built an imposing gateway with two defensive towers guarding the entrance. Above this gateway were the Royal coat of arms, those of the Archbishop and of the sub-dean of the diocese. These carvings have actually survived and can be found in the Cathedral's crypt.
It was during the rule of prelacy of Dunbar that the Castle underwent one of the most determined attacks upon it, in 1544, two years after Mary Stuart had ascended the throne. James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, had become Regent in 1542 and was opposed by Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox and the Earl of Glencairn. Lennox supported the English invasion of 1544, Henry VIII's "Rough Wooing," and took the Castle from Dunbar while en route to Dumbarton to raise an army. He garrisoned it with men loyal to himself. The Regent then laid siege to the Castle using cannon and after 10 days Lennox's men surrendered when they were promised mercy and safe conduct by Arran. He broke his word and the soldiers was massacred. The aftermath of this treachery led to a battle being fought at the Butts, to be known as the Battle of the Butts. Arran won the engagement, with Glasgow being plundered as a consequence.
The Archbishop continued to govern his province from the Castle until the Reformation of 1560. He would summon the Lord Provost and the Town Council to his Palace to discuss matters with them as his predecessors had for centuries. The last Catholic incumbent was the second Archbishop Beaton, a nephew of the murdered Cardinal David Beaton, who gained the See in 1551. Foreseeing the troubles to come, he removed the valuables of the Cathedral to the protection of the Castle, which was garrisoned by French troops belonging to the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise.
Beaton had managed to obtain an agreement from Arran not to interfere with the Archbishop's affairs and to defend him if necessary. However Arran ceased to be Regent in 1554 and went over to the Protestant Lords of the Congregation. He reneged on his promise to the Archbishop and seized the Castle in 1559. He was driven out by French reinforcements soon thereafter, but took up occupation yet again when Beaton finally fled to France in 1560. The Archbishop took with him the treasures of the See, of Cathedral and Castle alike. Arran was not allowed to remain in possession of the stronghold, being driven out by the Earl of Lennox.
In May of 1568 the Castle was given into the keeping of Sir John Stewart of Minto, Provost of Glasgow. The new Regent of the kingdom was James Stewart, Earl of Moray. He had come to power upon the enforced abdication of his half-sister, Queen Mary Stuart, and was encamped at Glasgow with an army on the Gallowmuir when news reached him of Mary's escape from Lochleven. From this position he was able to intercept and defeat her forces, including the Hamiltons, at the decisive Battle of Langside on the 13th of May, 1568.
Following the defeat at Langside and her flight to England, the supporters of Mary Stuart did not entirely abandon their attempts to champion both her and their own interests. The Regent Moray who had defeated Mary was assassinated in January, 1570 by a member of the Hamilton family. This sparked off a civil war which was to last for 3 years, with the Regent's place initially being taken by the same Earl of Lennox who had resisted the Regent Arran prior to the Battle of the Butts. The Bishop's Castle was still held for Lennox by Sir John when again it was attacked by the Hamiltons in May, 1570. Although it was only held by a small force, the besiegers were repelled with considerable losses.
For the purpose of aiding in the suppression of Mary's supporters, Elizabeth I of England had provided troops to the Regent. Elizabeth had no desire whatsoever to see Mary restored, perceiving her as a threat to her own realm. Within a fews days of the Hamiltons' retreat from Glasgow a force of English soldiers arrived and followed them to their lands in Clydesdale. There the Palace, Castle and town of Hamilton were destroyed along with a great deal other property. Indeed, such was the devastation that the fortunes of the house of Hamilton were almost ruined.
The Bishop's Castle continued in the care of Sir John Stewart until it passed to the newly appointed Archbishop Boyd in 1573. From the time of the Reformation, the history of the Castle was mostly one of decline and decay. With the flight of Beaton and the transference of power to secular authority the Town Council stopped holding its meetings at the Castle. The centre of administrative control was moved to the old Tolbooth at the foot of the High St. in 1576 but the Castle was still used to hold prisoners in its dungeons. The new Protestant Archbishops continued to occupy it however and one, Archbishop Spottiswoode who succeeded to the See in 1603, even attempted a restoration to previous glories.
The restoration did not last, and with the expulsion of the Bishops from the Reformed Church by order of the 1638 General Assembly, the Castle again fell into a decline from which it had little respite. Portions of it which remained sound continued to be used. Habitable rooms were in the gift of the Town Council to those deemed by it as needy and worthy, and it also continued in use as a prison.
It is alleged that the Castle was the location of a plot to kill the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, on his entry to the city in 1650 after his defeat of the Scottish forces at Dunbar. The plotters, reputedly Presbyterian sympathisers of the exiled King Charles II, were supposed to have loaded the dungeons of the Castle with gunpowder which would be exploded when Cromwell passed near to the structure. However, the plot was foiled as Cromwell entered the city by the Cowcaddens and Cowloan rather than by the Stablegreen Port as expected.
When Charles II regained his throne, he re-introduced Episcopacy into the country and the Archbishops returned, briefly, to the Castle in 1661 in the person of Andrew Fairfoul. Episcopacy was finally overthrown in the Revolution settlement of 1690 after William of Orange was granted the Scottish throne. By that time, the Castle was reported by travellers to be in a ruinous condition and hardly fit to be used even as a prison. Yet it continued to be used as such, housing some 300 prisoners taken during the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
For a time, in 1752, the first theatre in Glasgow was built against its walls, but this did not survive long. The structure had been allowed to fall into complete ruin and its stones and other materials were being taken away for building apparently at will, and illegally. It has been reported that the Town Council agreed to allow Robert Tennant to use the stones of the Castle in 1755 to erect his Saracen's Head Inn. This is not true; it was the stones of the Gallowgate Port, and what remained of Little St. Mungo's Chapel that he was allowed.
Additional parts of the Castle ruins were removed in 1778 when Castle St. was widened and for a time the Castle grounds were used as the place of execution. From 7th June, 1784 to 28th May, 1787 12 persons were executed there for a variety of offences ranging from housebreaking to murder. Of the ruins, Beaton's Tower lasted longest, but finally the remains of the Castle were swept away in 1792 to make way for the new Royal Infirmary.
A number of archaeological excavations of the site have taken place, with the nearby St. Mungo Museum exhibiting some of the artifacts uncovered. These include a cooking pot of the 14th century which was found in the ditch surrounding the early earth and timber structures, and a well preserved shoe of a type known as a turnshoe also from the 14th century.
The most recent excavation was undertaken from 1986-89, by the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust,in preparation for the construction of the museum. An extensive range of stone foundations was revealed and examined, and later recovered with the formation of the Cathedral Precinct to protect them. One portion of the original stonework was left exposed to view at the north-west corner of the museum.
The site is now marked by a carved, granite pillar. On a plaque attached to this is an engraving of the Castle and Cathedral. This monument is inscribed;
PRESENTED TO THE
CORPORATION OF GLASGOW
BY FRANCIS HENDERSON ESQ
LORD DEAN OF GUILD OF THE CITY
IN THE YEARS 1910-12
TO MARK THE SITE OF THE BISHOP'S PALACE
WHICH WAS BUILT IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY
AND WAS FINALLY REMOVED IN 1792
To the south, embedded in the granite cobbles of the Precinct, is another plaque indicating the site of the castle's well in the 16th century.
© 2005 Gordon Adams
MacGregor, George (1885); "Historical Notes of the Castle of Glasgow." In Transactions of the Glasgow Archaeological Society, New Series. Vol.1. 1885-90. Glasgow, James Maclehose & Sons
MacGregor, George (1888); "Glasgow: Ancient and Modern." Glasgow, Hay Nisbet and Company.
