For warships of this name see HMS Dumbarton Castle. Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Dumbarton Castle after Dumbarton Castle.

Dumbarton Castle shown within the United Kingdom
(grid reference NS399744)

Dumbarton Castle (Gaelic Dùn Breatainn, pronounced [d̪̊unˈb̊ɾʲɛhd̪̊ɪɲ]) ( 55°56′10″N, 4°33′46″W) has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is 240 feet (73 m) high. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Dumbarton ( Gaelic Dùn Breatainn d̪̊unˈb̊ɾʲɛhd̪̊ɪɲ is a Burgh in Scotland, lying on the north bank of the River Clyde Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the Basalt (bəˈsɔːlt ˈbeisɔːlt ˈbæsɔːlt is a common Extrusive Volcanic rock. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International ^[1]

At least as far back as the Iron Age (and probably much earlier) this has been the site of a strategically important settlement, whose residents were known to have traded with the Romans. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The presence of a settlement here is first recorded in a letter Saint Patrick wrote to King Ceretic of Alt Clut, (or Clyde Rock) in the late 5th century. Saint Patrick (Patricius Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Roman Britain -born Christian Missionary and is the Patron saint Ceretic Guletic of Alt Clut was a king of Alt Clut (modern Dumbarton) in the Fifth century.

From the fifth century until the ninth it was the centre of the independent British Kingdom of Strathclyde. Strathclyde ( Gaelic: Srath Chluaidh) (lit "Valley of the Clyde" originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the kingdoms The King of the Britons of Dumbarton in about AD 570 was Riderch Hael, who features in Norse legends. Riderch I of Alt Clut (fl 580 died c 614 commonly known as Riderch or Rhydderch Hael (the Generous was a ruler of Alt Clut (the region around modern Dumbarton Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language It is said that during his reign Merlin stayed at Alt Clut. The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network ( MERLIN) is an Interferometer array of Radio telescopes spread across England and the In 756 the first (and second) losses of Dumbarton Rock were recorded. A joint force of Picts and Northumbrians captured Alcluith after a siege, only to lose it again a few days later. The Picts were a Confederation of tribes in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from Roman times until the 10th century

The Rock dominates much of the skyline in southern Dumbarton

By 870 Dumbarton Rock was home to a tightly packed British settlement that served as a fortress and as the capital of Alt Clut. The Vikings had laid siege to Dumbarton for four months, eventually defeating the inhabitants when they cut off their water supply. A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas The Norse king Olaf returned to the Viking city of Dublin in 871, with two hundred ships full of slaves and looted treasures. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. Olaf came to an agreement with Constantine I, King of Scots, and Artgal of Alt Clut. Constantín ( Scottish Gaelic Còiseam mac Choinnich) (died 877 was a King of the Picts. Artgal of Alt Clut (died 872 was the ruler of Alt Clut (the area around modern Dumbarton Rock) for some time in the mid ninth century

Strathclyde's independence may have come to an end with the death of Owen the Bald, when the dynasty of Kenneth mac Alpin began to rule the region. Owen II ( Latin Eugenius; Old Gaelic: Eógan; Modern Gaelic Eòghann; Modern Welsh: Owain) also Cináed mac Ailpín ( Modern Gaelic: Coinneach mac Ailpein) commonly Anglicised as Kenneth MacAlpin and known in most modern regnal lists as

In medieval Scotland, Dumbarton (Dùn Breatainn, which means 'the fortress of the Britons') was an important royal castle. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It sheltered David II (Robert the Bruce's son) and his young wife, Queen Joan, after the Scottish defeat at Halidon Hill near Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1333. Daibhidh a Briuis ( Modern Gaelic: Dàibhidh Bruis) anglicised as David II ( 5 March 1324 &ndash 22 February David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: Daibhidh I mac Chaluim; b Joan of England ( July 5, 1321 &ndash September 7, 1362) known as Joan of the Tower was the first wife and Queen consort of Battle of Halidon Hill ( July 19, 1333) was fought during the Second War of Scottish Independence. Berwick-upon-Tweed ( ˈbɛrɪk- ( Scots: Berwick or historically South Berwick) situated in the county of Northumberland, is the northernmost Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell, was Captain of Dumbarton castle on April 1, 1495. Patrick Hepburn 1st Earl of Bothwell (d October 18, 1508) was Lord High Admiral of Scotland. In 1548, after the equally disastrous Battle of Pinkie, east of Edinburgh, the castle protected the infant Mary, Queen of Scots for several months before her safe removal to France. The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, along the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland on 10 September 1547, was part of the Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

Looking across the River Clyde towards Dumbarton Castle

Dumbarton castle in 1800. ^[2]

The castle's importance declined after Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658. Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known But threats posed by Jacobites and the French in the eighteenth century caused new structures and defences to be built and the castle continued to be garrisoned until World War II. Jacobitism was (and to a limited extent remains the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Today all visible trace of the Dark-Age Alcluith, literally Clyde Rock (modern Gaelic Alt Chluaidh, pronounced [aɫ̪d̪̊ˈxɫ̪uəj]), its buildings and defences, have gone and precious little survives from the medieval castle. Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. The most interesting structures today are the fortifications of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which illustrate a painful struggle by military engineers to adapt an intractable site to contemporary defensive needs. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar The splendid views from the twin summits of White Tower Crag and The Beak remind us why this rocky outcrop was chosen as 'the fortress of the Britons' all those centuries ago.

References

External links

• Dumbarton Castle - site information from Historic Scotland
• undiscovered Scotland, Dumbarton Castle
• www.rampantscotland.com Dumbarton Castle
• Dumbarton Castle - photo gallery