Explore a castle caught in the Protestant Reformation struggle for hearts and minds. St Andrews Castle was a bishop’s palace, a fortress and a state prison during its 450-year history.

Protestant preacher George Wishart may have been imprisoned in the castle’s bottle dungeon. Cardinal Beaton’s murdered body was certainly kept in the dank and airless hole. The assassination sparked the brutal siege of 1546–47, when opposing sides dug the remarkable mine and countermine into the rock close to the castle battlements.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland