Craigowl's Broughty Ferry Views

Situated on the northern shore of the River Tay three miles east of Dundee Broughty Ferry grew from a fishing community clustered round a harbour.

Broughty Ferry Castle was built as defence against the English in the 15th century. It has had a very turbulent history, being held by both the English and the French in the 16th century. It was reduced to a ruin by 1787.

Broughty Castle occupies a superb location. It stands at the tip of a shallow point projecting into the Firth of Tay from the harbour of the attractive little town of Broughty Ferry, five miles east of Dundee.

In 1454 King James King of Scots II gave permission to build a small castle here. It took some time to put this into practice, and the castle was finally completed in about 1495. It was probably in the form of a tower, similar to the one you see today, surrounded by a walled enclosure.

The castle was built by the Gray family, who were to own and occupy it, except when displaced by the occasional invading army, until 1666.

3,000 Scots troops arrived on 22 November 1547, but despite destroying parts of the tower they were unable to recapture the castle. The English strengthened their hold on the area over the following months at the same time as the Scots and the supporting French built up their forces in Dundee. On 20 February 1550 the French and Scots succeeded in capturing a subsidiary fort also held by the English, and the following day Broughty Castle surrendered to them.

The damage was repaired and the Grays moved back in for a relatively tranquil hundred years.

But in 1651 the family were backers of the Royalist cause in the Civil War, which resulted in General George Monck and his Parliamentary army attacking the castle on 31 August. The defenders fled without a fight.

The Gray family sold Broughty Castle in 1666 and it slid slowly into obscurity and decay over the following two hundred years. It played no part in the turbulence of the 1700s, and was described as a ruin in 1787.

In the 1800s the castle passed through the hands of two different railway companies, one who wanted the land to build a rail ferry across the Tay, the other simply to build a branch line to Broughty Ferry harbour.

But with the growing fears about a renewed French threat in the 1850s, Broughty Castle's strategically important location came to the fore again. It was purchased by the War Office and rebuilt in 1861, to a design that was intended to restore parts of the original castle.

The castle's role was to protect Dundee and it was surrounded with batteries of large naval guns. It remained in military use until 1932: and was again used by the military from 1939 to 1949.
In 1969 Broughty Castle opened as a museum operated by Dundee Council. The museum continues to be operated by the Council, while the structure of the castle itself is in the care of Historic Scotland.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• broughty
• ferry
• port
• castle
• harbour
• river
• tay

[heyaevery1x]

. . . Oh and i just read the discription there :P .. sorry hahaa Grreat vid :) xoxo

[craigowler]

Aye....you have to get up very, very early in the morning to teach me anything about history....Heh, Heh...

[heyaevery1x]

Did you know that the hole at the front of the castle was caused by General Monck's and Oliver Cromwels Army when they invaded dundee 350 years ago? They stole Dundee's gold then drowned, Cromwels army drounded in the north sea, so now theres billions of pounds worth of gold in the river tay.. i know this because my drama group reinacted it at broughtferry castle - Prety strange to imagine that actually happend in broughtferry huh? :S - Great vid love :) xoxo

[craigowler]

Actually, the gold and other artefacts and state documents had been stored in both the Auld Steeple and in underground vaults in the vicinity of Castle Street & St Pauls Cathedral.

During Cromwel & Monck`s sojourn into Scotland the political classes sent their families & wealth to be kept safe in Dundee. After M`s forces slaughtered the politicians, families & Dundee`s Town Council thye searched out the valuables & documents. Which was then placed on the ship to betaken down to London.

[craigowler]

The Lords & their families & Town Council had barricaded themselves into the Steeple - refused to come out when asked to by Monck - Monck caused a very smokey fire to be lit at the base of Steeple thus smoking out the people. As they came out the Roundheads slaughtered everyone to emerge - men, women & children no quarter was afforded. Below the raised-grass area immediately in front of Steeple was where they were buried in a mass grave.

[Fringe111]

Beautiful

[craigowler]

Thank you Joy, have enjoy a peaceful weekend

[magoomonck]

Hey where can i find about more of Georges activities? Thanks

[BillDFC]

Did you know that in the past the castle was on an island and occupied by English troops?

In the 19th.C a railway ran to the harbour and the carraiges were taken by boat over to Tayport.

[craigowler]

thank you