A grim Black Douglas tower on its own island in the Dee, still reached by ringing for the boatman
Open to visitorsa Historic Environment Scotland site — many are free to wander; staffed ones charge and keep set hours
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Threave sits on a low island in the River Dee, and getting there is half the pleasure — a short walk to the bank, then you ring a bell and the custodian rows across to fetch you. The tower was raised in the 1370s by Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway and one of the Black Douglases, the family that all but ruled the south-west of Scotland. It is a massive, plain tower house (a tall fortified residence), five storeys of grey stone, with the low remains of an artillery wall thrown around it later. In 1455 James II besieged the castle as he broke the power of the Douglases; tradition says his great bombard Mons Meg was hauled here to batter the walls, though that is far from certain. Historic Environment Scotland looks after it. The castle lies a couple of miles west of Castle Douglas; the Threave Garden nearby is well worth an hour, and Carlingwark Loch sits close by the town.
