Urquhart Castle is perched on the northwest shore of Loch Ness, a few miles down from the northern end. There is evidence of a fortress at the site from the 6th century. The first castle was likely built in the 13th century, and expanded in the three following centuries. In the late 1600s, supporters of William of Orange occupied the castle and eventually destroyed access to it (by blowing up the gatehouse) to prevent Jacobites (those loyal to the deposed James VII) from taking it back. The castle was left in ruins from that point, and locals took materials for their own building purposes. It went into the hands of the State in the early 20th century.
The visitor center was constructed in 1998 and had a really neat introductory movie. It told the story of the site from the beginning. At the end of the movie, as it showed the burning remnants of the blown-up gatehouse, curtains rose on a big window looking out over the present site. The glorious weather made this quite dramatic!
We looked at a reconstructed trebuchet, one of two built by historians in the 1990s. The other is at Caerlaverock Castle, which we visited last year.
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