St. Andrews - Scotland

West Sands Saint Andrews, Fife - Scotland The famous "Chariots of Fire" scene of athletes running on the beach was filmed on this beach.

The Long (North) Pier and Cross Pier form the well-sheltered havens of the Outer and enclosed Inner Harbours at St. Andrews. In the past the harbour was home to fifty or more fishing vessels. Nowadays the harbour provides shelter for a growing number of pleasure boats as well as a small group of fishing vessels.

The actual word 'Saltire' means a cross with diagonal bars of equal length' and the national flag of Scotland is made up of a white saltire (aka St. Andrews' Cross) on a blue background. First hoisted in 1512, it's believed to be one of the oldest flags in the world still in use today.

Best enlarged St Andrew's Castle is a picturesque ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The castle sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining North Sea. There has been a castle standing at the site since the times of Bishop Roger (1189-1202), son of the Earl of Leicester. It housed the burgh’s wealthy and powerful bishops while St Andrews served as the ecclesiastical centre of Scotland during the years before the Protestant Reformation. In their Latin charters, the Archbishops of St Andrews wrote of the castle as their Palace, signing, "apud Palatium nostrum." Wars of Scottish Independence During the Wars of Scottish Independence, the castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times as it changed hands between the Scots and the English. Soon after the sack of Berwick in 1296 by Edward I of England, the castle was taken and made ready for the English king in 1303. In 1314, however, after the Scottish victory at Bannockburn, the castle was retaken and repaired by Bishop William Lamberton, Guardian of Scotland, a loyal supporter of King Robert the Bruce. The English had recaptured it again by the 1330s and reinforced its defences in 1336, but to no avail. Sir Andrew Moray, Regent of Scotland in the absence of David II, recaptured it after a siege lasting three weeks. Shortly after this, in 1336-1337, it was destroyed by the Scots to prevent the English from once again using it as a stronghold. It remained in this ruined state until Bishop Walter Trail rebuilt it at the turn of the century. His castle forms the basis of what can be seen today. He completed work on the castle in about 1400 and died within its walls in 1401. Home to kings Several notable figures spent time in the castle over the next several years. James I of Scotland (1406-1437) received part of his education from Bishop Henry Wardlaw, the founder of St Andrews University in 1410. A later resident, Bishop James Kennedy, was a trusted advisor of James II of Scotland (1437-1460). In 1445 the castle was the birthplace of James III of Scotland. Use as a prison During these years, the castle also served as a notorious prison. The castle's bottle dungeon is a dank and airless pit cut out of solid rock below the north-west tower. It housed local miscreants who fell under the Bishop's jurisdiction as well as several more prominent individuals such as David Stuart, Duke of Rothesay in 1402, Duke Murdoch in 1425, and Archbishop Patrick Graham, who was judged to be insane and imprisoned in his own castle in 1478. Reformation and siege During the Scottish Reformation, the castle became a centre of religious persecution and controversy. Referring to the bottle dungeon the Scottish reformer, John Knox, wrote, "Many of God's Children were imprisoned here." In 1521 James Beaton, then Archbishop of Glasgow, won the seat of St Andrews and took up residence in the castle. Beaton altered the defences to enable the castle to withstand a heavy artillery attack, which was a threat as tensions grew between English Protestants and Scottish Catholics. In 1538 James Beaton was succeeded by his ambitious and wealthy nephew David Beaton. Cardinal David Beaton's strong opposition to the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, with Prince Edward (later King Edward VI), the son and heir of Henry VIII of England, helped to spark renewed fighting in 1544. Scottish Protestants were increasingly viewed as dangerous turncoats who sided with the English. In 1546 David Beaton imprisoned the Protestant preacher George Wishart (1513-1546) in the castle’s Sea Tower and had him burnt at the stake in front of the castle walls on March 1. Today, brick lettering with his initials marks the spot where he died. In May of that same year, Wishart's friends conspired against the cardinal. On May 26 they gained entry to the castle by disguising themselves as masons when some building work was in progress. After overcoming the garrison, they murdered Cardinal Beaton and hung his body from his window on the front of the castle. Following this murder, the Protestants took refuge in the castle and formed the first Protestant congregation in Scotland. A long siege was ordered by the Scottish Regent, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran. In October 1546 a mine was begun by the attackers which was successfully counter-mined by the defenders. Both the mine and counter-mine cut through solid rock. They were rediscovered in 1879 and remain open to the public today. Arran heard that an English army was on its way to relieve the Castle and asked Fife Lairds like John Wemyss of that Ilk to come by 4 November 1546, bringing his followers and whatever artillery they had to resist a sea invasion. Although Henry VIII made plans to assist the Protestants within the castle, the invasion never came and his son Edward VI did not send aid. During an armistice in April 1547, John Knox entered the castle and served as the garrison's preacher for the remainder of the siege. For a time Knox had the freedom to pass to and from the castle to preach in the parish church. This peaceful interlude came to end, however, when a French fleet arrived bringing an Italian engineer Leone Strozzi who directed a devastating artillery bombardment to dislodge the Protestant lairds. The lairds knew an expert was in the field when their own Italian engineer observed cannon being winched into position with ropes rather than exposing the besiegers to their fire. Guns were also placed on St Salvator's and the cathedral towers. One of the largest Scottish cannon was called "thrawynmouthe." The castle was quickly rendered indefensible; within six hours according to Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie. The defeated Protestants were taken away: some were imprisoned in France while others, including Knox, were condemned to the galleys. Decline and current condition Following this Protestant defeat, the castle was substantially rebuilt by Archbishop John Hamilton, the illegitimate brother of Regent Arran, and successor to Dr. David Cardinal Beaton. But following his death in 1571 it was mainly occupied by a succession of constables. Parliament separated the castle from the archbishopric in 1606, and it was granted to the Earl of Dunbar, constable since 1603. In 1612 it was returned to Archbishop George Gledstanes, but further attempts to re-establish the former estates of the Archbishop failed. With the eventual success of the Reformation in Scotland, the office of the bishop was increasingly eroded until it was finally abolished by William of Orange in 1689. Deprived of any function, the castle fell rapidly into ruin. By 1656, it had fallen into such disrepair that the burgh council ordered the use of its materials in repairing the pier. The principal remains are a portion of the south wall enclosing a square tower, the "bottle dungeon," the kitchen tower, and the underground mine and counter-mine.

Best enlarged The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined Roman Catholic cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews. It fell into disuse and ruin after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation. It is currently a monument in the custody of Historic Scotland. The ruins indicate that the building was approximately 119m (391 feet) long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland. Founding and development The cathedral was founded to supply more accommodation than the older church of St. Regulus (St. Rule) afforded. This older church, located on what became the cathedral grounds, had been built in the Romanesque style. Today, there remains the square tower, 33 metres (108 feet) high, and the quire, of very diminutive proportions. On a plan of the town from about 1530, a chancel appears, and seals affixed to the city and college charters bear representations of other buildings attached. To the east is an even older religious site, the Church of St Mary on the Rock, the Culdee house that became a Collegiate Church. Work began on the new cathedral in 1158 and continued for over a century. The west end was blown down in a storm and rebuilt between 1272 and 1279. It was dedicated on 5 July 1318, in a ceremony before King Robert I . When intact it had, besides a central tower, six turrets; of these remain two at the east and one of the two at the western extremity, rising to a height of 30 metres (100 feet). A fire partly destroyed the building in 1378; restoration and further embellishment were completed in 1440. The cathedral was served by a community of Augustinian Canons, the St Andrews Cathedral Priory, which were successors to the Culdees of the Celtic church. Greyfriar (Franciscan) and Blackfriar (Dominican) friars had properties in the town by the late 15th century and possibly as late as 1518. Abandonment and ruin In 1559, during the Scottish reformation, the building was stripped of its altars and images; and by 1561 it had been abandoned and left to fall into ruin. At about the end of the sixteenth century the central tower apparently gave way, carrying with it the north wall. Afterwards large portions of the ruins were taken away for building purposes, and nothing was done to preserve them until 1826. Since then it has been tended with scrupulous care, an interesting feature being the cutting out of the ground-plan in the turf. The principal portions extant, partly Norman and partly Early Scottish, are the east and west gables, the greater part of the south wall of the nave and the west wall of the south transept. At the end of the seventeenth century some of the priory buildings remained entire and considerable remains of others existed, but nearly all traces have now disappeared except portions of the priory wall and the archways, known as The Pends.

Best enlarged St Rule's tower is located in the Cathedral grounds but predates it, having served as the church of the priory up to the early 12th century. The building was retained to allow worship to continue uninterrupted during the building of its much larger successor. Originally, the tower and adjoining choir were part of the church built in the 11th century to house the relics of St Andrew. The nave, with twin western turrets, and the apse of the church no longer stand. The church's original appearance is illustrated in stylised form on some of the early seals of the Cathedral Priory. Legend credits St Rule (also known as St Regulus) with bringing relics of St Andrew to the area from their original location at Patras in Greece. Today the tower commands an admirable view of the town, harbour, sea, and surrounding countryside. Beautifully built in grey sandstone ashlar, and (for its date) immensely tall (100 ft, 30 mtrs), it is a land- and sea-mark seen from many miles away, its prominence doubtless meant to guide pilgrims to the place of the Apostle's relics. In the Middle Ages a spire atop the tower made it even more prominent. The tower was originally ascended using ladders between wooden floors, but a stone spiral staircase was inserted in the 18th century.

Best enlarged St Rule's tower (right) is located in the Cathedral grounds but predates it, having served as the church of the priory up to the early 12th century. The building was retained to allow worship to continue uninterrupted during the building of its much larger successor. Originally, the tower and adjoining choir were part of the church built in the 11th century to house the relics of St Andrew. The nave, with twin western turrets, and the apse of the church no longer stand. The church's original appearance is illustrated in stylised form on some of the early seals of the Cathedral Priory. Legend credits St Rule (also known as St Regulus) with bringing relics of St Andrew to the area from their original location at Patras in Greece. Today the tower commands an admirable view of the town, harbour, sea, and surrounding countryside. Beautifully built in grey sandstone ashlar, and (for its date) immensely tall at 100 feet, it is a land- and sea-mark seen from many miles away, its prominence doubtless meant to guide pilgrims to the place of the Apostle's relics. In the Middle Ages a spire atop the tower made it even more prominent. The tower was originally ascended using ladders between wooden floors, but a stone spiral staircase was inserted in the 18th century. The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined Roman Catholic cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews. It fell into disuse and ruin after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation. It is currently a monument in the custody of Historic Scotland. The ruins indicate that the building was approximately 119m (391 feet) long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland. Founding and development The cathedral was founded to supply more accommodation than the older church of St. Regulus (St. Rule) afforded. This older church, located on what became the cathedral grounds, had been built in the Romanesque style. Today, there remains the square tower, 33 metres (108 feet) high, and the quire, of very diminutive proportions. On a plan of the town from about 1530, a chancel appears, and seals affixed to the city and college charters bear representations of other buildings attached. To the east is an even older religious site, the Church of St Mary on the Rock, the Culdee house that became a Collegiate Church. Work began on the new cathedral in 1158 and continued for over a century. The west end was blown down in a storm and rebuilt between 1272 and 1279. It was dedicated on 5 July 1318, in a ceremony before King Robert I . When intact it had, besides a central tower, six turrets; of these remain two at the east and one of the two at the western extremity, rising to a height of 30 metres (100 feet). A fire partly destroyed the building in 1378; restoration and further embellishment were completed in 1440. The cathedral was served by a community of Augustinian Canons, the St Andrews Cathedral Priory, which were successors to the Culdees of the Celtic church. Greyfriar (Franciscan) and Blackfriar (Dominican) friars had properties in the town by the late 15th century and possibly as late as 1518. Abandonment and ruin In 1559, during the Scottish reformation, the building was stripped of its altars and images; and by 1561 it had been abandoned and left to fall into ruin. At about the end of the sixteenth century the central tower apparently gave way, carrying with it the north wall. Afterwards large portions of the ruins were taken away for building purposes, and nothing was done to preserve them until 1826. Since then it has been tended with scrupulous care, an interesting feature being the cutting out of the ground-plan in the turf. The principal portions extant, partly Norman and partly Early Scottish, are the east and west gables, the greater part of the south wall of the nave and the west wall of the south transept. At the end of the seventeenth century some of the priory buildings remained entire and considerable remains of others existed, but nearly all traces have now disappeared except portions of the priory wall and the archways, known as The Pends.

Best Enlarged The North Pier is a classic example of Scottish vernacular harbour work. It comprises a pier of rubble construction, with a substantial bulwark on its seaward face, to protect the wide quay from over-topping seas in heavy weather. The course of the pier is somewhat crooked, reflecting the strategy of the builders to construct it from strong point to strong point along the natural rock skerry which forms its foundation. The dry-stone, rubble construction of this pier gives it great character and the surfaces reveal many examples of repairs to the pier, using a variety of different strategies for placing the stones. The outer, seaward face of this pier contains in places re-used stone with rolled moulded margins, presumably coming from the ruined castle or cathedral in the 18th and 19th centuries. The North pier has a number of important features along is length, including cyclopean stone mooring pawls, stone stairs leading to the bulwark and a stone slipway in the harbour where the pier joins the Shorehead quay. There is also a stone-built ramp at the root of the pier leading down onto the shore. This ramp is of indeterminate age but it connects with a rock-cut roadway leading towards the castle, where there was an important landing beach. The outer, seaward end of the North pier is of 19th and 20th century date, reflecting efforts to improve the access to the harbour in heavy weather. It is of typical Victorian and later cement construction, much more rectilinear than the earlier work at the shore-ward end. This later extension is fitted with cast-iron mooring pawls. St Andrews Harbour has in its day known commerce with all parts of Europe. In medieval times the town traded widely, principally with the Low Countries. At its peak, the harbour may have berthed as many as 300 ships. But it fell into disuse with the opening of the railway. It dates from the 13th century and retains much of its medieval form. The main pier, extending out into the North Sea, was rebuilt with stone taken from the Cathedral in 1656. It is along this pier the University students traditionally walk after Sunday service from St Salvator's Chapel in North Street. With the development of fishing, agriculture and tourism in the 19th century the town's harbour once more came alive with herring-boats, boats exporting coal and iron as well as grain and potatoes from the farms of Fife, and ferries linking St Andrews with ports such as Dundee and Leith. Pleasure craft and small fishing vessels share the harbour today.

Best Enlarged The history of St Andrews Harbour is one that spans the centuries and is inseparably linked with the life of the coastal town it serves; indeed at one time the very life-blood of it. No doubt the Harbour's footings are to be found in nothing more than the unimproved shores of the Kinness Burn, around which the early inhabitants of the town, then still known as Kilrymont, would go about their simple lives of fishing and farming. During medieval times and through to the 16th century the harbour would see significant development with the construction of the original stone built piers and quays to serve the many travellers and merchants of the time; the town developing as an important academic, ecclesiastical and trading centre. Today the 18th to 20th century extensions and developments to the Long (North) Pier and Cross Pier form the well-sheltered havens of the Outer and enclosed Inner Harbours, which are home to a small, but growing, flotilla of pleasure craft and a small fishing fleet that in its heyday would have numbered fifty vessels and more. Catheral Ruins St Rule's tower is located in the Cathedral grounds but predates it, having served as the church of the priory up to the early 12th century. The building was retained to allow worship to continue uninterrupted during the building of its much larger successor. Originally, the tower and adjoining choir were part of the church built in the 11th century to house the relics of St Andrew. The nave, with twin western turrets, and the apse of the church no longer stand. The church's original appearance is illustrated in stylised form on some of the early seals of the Cathedral Priory. Legend credits St Rule (also known as St Regulus) with bringing relics of St Andrew to the area from their original location at Patras in Greece. Today the tower commands an admirable view of the town, harbour, sea, and surrounding countryside. Beautifully built in grey sandstone ashlar, and (for its date) immensely tall at 100 feet, it is a land- and sea-mark seen from many miles away, its prominence doubtless meant to guide pilgrims to the place of the Apostle's relics. In the Middle Ages a spire atop the tower made it even more prominent. The tower was originally ascended using ladders between wooden floors, but a stone spiral staircase was inserted in the 18th century. The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined Roman Catholic cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews. It fell into disuse and ruin after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation. It is currently a monument in the custody of Historic Scotland. The ruins indicate that the building was approximately 119m (391 feet) long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland. Founding and development The cathedral was founded to supply more accommodation than the older church of St. Regulus (St. Rule) afforded. This older church, located on what became the cathedral grounds, had been built in the Romanesque style. Today, there remains the square tower, 33 metres (108 feet) high, and the quire, of very diminutive proportions. On a plan of the town from about 1530, a chancel appears, and seals affixed to the city and college charters bear representations of other buildings attached. To the east is an even older religious site, the Church of St Mary on the Rock, the Culdee house that became a Collegiate Church. Work began on the new cathedral in 1158 and continued for over a century. The west end was blown down in a storm and rebuilt between 1272 and 1279. It was dedicated on 5 July 1318, in a ceremony before King Robert I . When intact it had, besides a central tower, six turrets; of these remain two at the east and one of the two at the western extremity, rising to a height of 30 metres (100 feet). A fire partly destroyed the building in 1378; restoration and further embellishment were completed in 1440. The cathedral was served by a community of Augustinian Canons, the St Andrews Cathedral Priory, which were successors to the Culdees of the Celtic church. Greyfriar (Franciscan) and Blackfriar (Dominican) friars had properties in the town by the late 15th century and possibly as late as 1518. Abandonment and ruin In 1559, during the Scottish reformation, the building was stripped of its altars and images; and by 1561 it had been abandoned and left to fall into ruin. At about the end of the sixteenth century the central tower apparently gave way, carrying with it the north wall. Afterwards large portions of the ruins were taken away for building purposes, and nothing was done to preserve them until 1826. Since then it has been tended with scrupulous care, an interesting feature being the cutting out of the ground-plan in the turf. The principal portions extant, partly Norman and partly Early Scottish, are the east and west gables, the greater part of the south wall of the nave and the west wall of the south transept. At the end of the seventeenth century some of the priory buildings remained entire and considerable remains of others existed, but nearly all traces have now disappeared except portions of the priory wall and the archways, known as The Pends.

Best Enlarged The North Pier is a classic example of Scottish vernacular harbour work. It comprises a pier of rubble construction, with a substantial bulwark on its seaward face, to protect the wide quay from over-topping seas in heavy weather. The course of the pier is somewhat crooked, reflecting the strategy of the builders to construct it from strong point to strong point along the natural rock skerry which forms its foundation. The dry-stone, rubble construction of this pier gives it great character and the surfaces reveal many examples of repairs to the pier, using a variety of different strategies for placing the stones. The outer, seaward face of this pier contains in places re-used stone with rolled moulded margins, presumably coming from the ruined castle or cathedral in the 18th and 19th centuries. The North pier has a number of important features along is length, including cyclopean stone mooring pawls, stone stairs leading to the bulwark and a stone slipway in the harbour where the pier joins the Shorehead quay. There is also a stone-built ramp at the root of the pier leading down onto the shore. This ramp is of indeterminate age but it connects with a rock-cut roadway leading towards the castle, where there was an important landing beach. The outer, seaward end of the North pier is of 19th and 20th century date, reflecting efforts to improve the access to the harbour in heavy weather. It is of typical Victorian and later cement construction, much more rectilinear than the earlier work at the shore-ward end. This later extension is fitted with cast-iron mooring pawls. St Andrews Harbour has in its day known commerce with all parts of Europe. In medieval times the town traded widely, principally with the Low Countries. At its peak, the harbour may have berthed as many as 300 ships. But it fell into disuse with the opening of the railway. It dates from the 13th century and retains much of its medieval form. The main pier, extending out into the North Sea, was rebuilt with stone taken from the Cathedral in 1656. It is along this pier the University students traditionally walk after Sunday service from St Salvator's Chapel in North Street. With the development of fishing, agriculture and tourism in the 19th century the town's harbour once more came alive with herring-boats, boats exporting coal and iron as well as grain and potatoes from the farms of Fife, and ferries linking St Andrews with ports such as Dundee and Leith. Pleasure craft and small fishing vessels share the harbour today.

St Rule's tower is located in the Cathedral grounds but predates it, having served as the church of the priory up to the early 12th century. The building was retained to allow worship to continue uninterrupted during the building of its much larger successor. Originally, the tower and adjoining choir were part of the church built in the 11th century to house the relics of St Andrew. The nave, with twin western turrets, and the apse of the church no longer stand. The church's original appearance is illustrated in stylised form on some of the early seals of the Cathedral Priory. Legend credits St Rule (also known as St Regulus) with bringing relics of St Andrew to the area from their original location at Patras in Greece. Today the tower commands an admirable view of the town, harbour, sea, and surrounding countryside. Beautifully built in grey sandstone ashlar, and (for its date) immensely tall at 100 feet, it is a land- and sea-mark seen from many miles away, its prominence doubtless meant to guide pilgrims to the place of the Apostle's relics. In the Middle Ages a spire atop the tower made it even more prominent. The tower was originally ascended using ladders between wooden floors, but a stone spiral staircase was inserted in the 18th century. The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined Roman Catholic cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews. It fell into disuse and ruin after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation. It is currently a monument in the custody of Historic Scotland. The ruins indicate that the building was approximately 119m (391 feet) long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland. Founding and development The cathedral was founded to supply more accommodation than the older church of St. Regulus (St. Rule) afforded. This older church, located on what became the cathedral grounds, had been built in the Romanesque style. Today, there remains the square tower, 33 metres (108 feet) high, and the quire, of very diminutive proportions. On a plan of the town from about 1530, a chancel appears, and seals affixed to the city and college charters bear representations of other buildings attached. To the east is an even older religious site, the Church of St Mary on the Rock, the Culdee house that became a Collegiate Church. Work began on the new cathedral in 1158 and continued for over a century. The west end was blown down in a storm and rebuilt between 1272 and 1279. It was dedicated on 5 July 1318, in a ceremony before King Robert I . When intact it had, besides a central tower, six turrets; of these remain two at the east and one of the two at the western extremity, rising to a height of 30 metres (100 feet). A fire partly destroyed the building in 1378; restoration and further embellishment were completed in 1440. The cathedral was served by a community of Augustinian Canons, the St Andrews Cathedral Priory, which were successors to the Culdees of the Celtic church. Greyfriar (Franciscan) and Blackfriar (Dominican) friars had properties in the town by the late 15th century and possibly as late as 1518. Abandonment and ruin In 1559, during the Scottish reformation, the building was stripped of its altars and images; and by 1561 it had been abandoned and left to fall into ruin. At about the end of the sixteenth century the central tower apparently gave way, carrying with it the north wall. Afterwards large portions of the ruins were taken away for building purposes, and nothing was done to preserve them until 1826. Since then it has been tended with scrupulous care, an interesting feature being the cutting out of the ground-plan in the turf. The principal portions extant, partly Norman and partly Early Scottish, are the east and west gables, the greater part of the south wall of the nave and the west wall of the south transept. At the end of the seventeenth century some of the priory buildings remained entire and considerable remains of others existed, but nearly all traces have now disappeared except portions of the priory wall and the archways, known as The Pends.

St Andrew's Castle is a picturesque ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The castle sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining North Sea. There has been a castle standing at the site since the times of Bishop Roger (1189-1202), son of the Earl of Leicester. It housed the burgh’s wealthy and powerful bishops while St Andrews served as the ecclesiastical centre of Scotland during the years before the Protestant Reformation. In their Latin charters, the Archbishops of St Andrews wrote of the castle as their Palace, signing, "apud Palatium nostrum." Wars of Scottish Independence During the Wars of Scottish Independence, the castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times as it changed hands between the Scots and the English. Soon after the sack of Berwick in 1296 by Edward I of England, the castle was taken and made ready for the English king in 1303. In 1314, however, after the Scottish victory at Bannockburn, the castle was retaken and repaired by Bishop William Lamberton, Guardian of Scotland, a loyal supporter of King Robert the Bruce. The English had recaptured it again by the 1330s and reinforced its defences in 1336, but to no avail. Sir Andrew Moray, Regent of Scotland in the absence of David II, recaptured it after a siege lasting three weeks. Shortly after this, in 1336-1337, it was destroyed by the Scots to prevent the English from once again using it as a stronghold. It remained in this ruined state until Bishop Walter Trail rebuilt it at the turn of the century. His castle forms the basis of what can be seen today. He completed work on the castle in about 1400 and died within its walls in 1401. Home to kings Several notable figures spent time in the castle over the next several years. James I of Scotland (1406-1437) received part of his education from Bishop Henry Wardlaw, the founder of St Andrews University in 1410. A later resident, Bishop James Kennedy, was a trusted advisor of James II of Scotland (1437-1460). In 1445 the castle was the birthplace of James III of Scotland. Use as a prison During these years, the castle also served as a notorious prison. The castle's bottle dungeon is a dank and airless pit cut out of solid rock below the north-west tower. It housed local miscreants who fell under the Bishop's jurisdiction as well as several more prominent individuals such as David Stuart, Duke of Rothesay in 1402, Duke Murdoch in 1425, and Archbishop Patrick Graham, who was judged to be insane and imprisoned in his own castle in 1478. Reformation and siege During the Scottish Reformation, the castle became a centre of religious persecution and controversy. Referring to the bottle dungeon the Scottish reformer, John Knox, wrote, "Many of God's Children were imprisoned here." In 1521 James Beaton, then Archbishop of Glasgow, won the seat of St Andrews and took up residence in the castle. Beaton altered the defences to enable the castle to withstand a heavy artillery attack, which was a threat as tensions grew between English Protestants and Scottish Catholics. In 1538 James Beaton was succeeded by his ambitious and wealthy nephew David Beaton. Cardinal David Beaton's strong opposition to the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, with Prince Edward (later King Edward VI), the son and heir of Henry VIII of England, helped to spark renewed fighting in 1544. Scottish Protestants were increasingly viewed as dangerous turncoats who sided with the English. In 1546 David Beaton imprisoned the Protestant preacher George Wishart (1513-1546) in the castle’s Sea Tower and had him burnt at the stake in front of the castle walls on March 1. Today, brick lettering with his initials marks the spot where he died. In May of that same year, Wishart's friends conspired against the cardinal. On May 26 they gained entry to the castle by disguising themselves as masons when some building work was in progress. After overcoming the garrison, they murdered Cardinal Beaton and hung his body from his window on the front of the castle. Following this murder, the Protestants took refuge in the castle and formed the first Protestant congregation in Scotland. A long siege was ordered by the Scottish Regent, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran. In October 1546 a mine was begun by the attackers which was successfully counter-mined by the defenders. Both the mine and counter-mine cut through solid rock. They were rediscovered in 1879 and remain open to the public today. Arran heard that an English army was on its way to relieve the Castle and asked Fife Lairds like John Wemyss of that Ilk to come by 4 November 1546, bringing his followers and whatever artillery they had to resist a sea invasion. Although Henry VIII made plans to assist the Protestants within the castle, the invasion never came and his son Edward VI did not send aid. During an armistice in April 1547, John Knox entered the castle and served as the garrison's preacher for the remainder of the siege. For a time Knox had the freedom to pass to and from the castle to preach in the parish church. This peaceful interlude came to end, however, when a French fleet arrived bringing an Italian engineer Leone Strozzi who directed a devastating artillery bombardment to dislodge the Protestant lairds. The lairds knew an expert was in the field when their own Italian engineer observed cannon being winched into position with ropes rather than exposing the besiegers to their fire. Guns were also placed on St Salvator's and the cathedral towers. One of the largest Scottish cannon was called "thrawynmouthe." The castle was quickly rendered indefensible; within six hours according to Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie. The defeated Protestants were taken away: some were imprisoned in France while others, including Knox, were condemned to the galleys. Decline and current condition Following this Protestant defeat, the castle was substantially rebuilt by Archbishop John Hamilton, the illegitimate brother of Regent Arran, and successor to Dr. David Cardinal Beaton. But following his death in 1571 it was mainly occupied by a succession of constables. Parliament separated the castle from the archbishopric in 1606, and it was granted to the Earl of Dunbar, constable since 1603. In 1612 it was returned to Archbishop George Gledstanes, but further attempts to re-establish the former estates of the Archbishop failed. With the eventual success of the Reformation in Scotland, the office of the bishop was increasingly eroded until it was finally abolished by William of Orange in 1689. Deprived of any function, the castle fell rapidly into ruin. By 1656, it had fallen into such disrepair that the burgh council ordered the use of its materials in repairing the pier. The principal remains are a portion of the south wall enclosing a square tower, the "bottle dungeon," the kitchen tower, and the underground mine and counter-mine.

The history of St Andrews Harbour is one that spans the centuries and is inseparably linked with the life of the coastal town it serves; indeed at one time the very life-blood of it. No doubt the Harbour's footings are to be found in nothing more than the unimproved shores of the Kinness Burn, around which the early inhabitants of the town, then still known as Kilrymont, would go about their simple lives of fishing and farming. During medieval times and through to the 16th century the harbour would see significant development with the construction of the original stone built piers and quays to serve the many travellers and merchants of the time; the town developing as an important academic, ecclesiastical and trading centre. Today the 18th to 20th century extensions and developments to the Long (North) Pier and Cross Pier form the well-sheltered havens of the Outer and enclosed Inner Harbours, which are home to a small, but growing, flotilla of pleasure craft and a small fishing fleet that in its heyday would have numbered fifty vessels and more. Behind the harbour buildings can be seen some of the remains of St. Andrews Cathedral, including St Rule's tower, sometimes referred to as the Square tower. The tower located in the Cathedral grounds but predates it, having served as the church of the priory up to the early 12th century. The building was retained to allow worship to continue uninterrupted during the building of its much larger successor. Originally, the tower and adjoining choir were part of the church built in the 11th century to house the relics of St Andrew. The nave, with twin western turrets, and the apse of the church no longer stand Today the tower commands an admirable view of the town, harbour, sea, and surrounding countryside.

Sand sculpted by the outgoing tide - East Sands - St. Andrews

North Pier St. Andrews Harbour, Fife - Scotland

In a rock pool East Sands beach - St. Andrews