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Loch Leven Castle Loch Leven Castle is located on an island in the Loch and is most famous as the prison of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was interned here in 1567 for almost a year before escaping. Shortly after being imprisoned, Mary was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son James VI. Its a small, desolated castle now but has been the scene of some action in the regular confrontations between Scotland and England. The castle was probably constructed by the English in the 13th Century during the reign of Edward I of England in his attempts to control the Scots. William Wallace later attacked the island fortress at night killing all thirty Englishmen and their five women, and the castle survived retaliatory sieges over the ensuing years by the English. Finally, in 1672, the then castle's owner, Sir William Bruce of Balcastie, decided to build Kinross House on the mainland and abandoned the island castle which then fell into disrepair. The castle probably takes its name from the eleven rivers flowing into the Loch, and the island itself is said to have been four times smaller than it is at present, which would mean that the waters of the loch would almost have reached up to the Castle walls. Information Scottish Tourist Board |
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