Dunbar Castle
The ruins of Dunbar Castle are also within the park. Dunbar Castle was once one of the most important strategic buildings in Scotland and was the subject of many battles as Picts, Angles and others battled for control of the castle and surrounding area. Long after the advent of peace between England & Scotland, the remains of the castle were in the news again in 1842 when electrically fired demolition charges saw their first practical use - blasting a channel through the rock to serve as the entrance for the new Victoria Harbour. The castle has been allowed to disintegrate under the impact of wave and weather since 1567; major losses were sustained in 1868 and 1993 (collapses of walls) but minor losses occur yearly. The remains are currently off-limit.
Read more about this topic: John Muir Country Park
Famous quotes containing the words dunbar and/or castle:
“I know what the caged bird feels, alas!”
—Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906)
“If, in looking at the lives of princes, courtiers, men of rank and fashion, we must perforce depict them as idle, profligate, and criminal, we must make allowances for the rich men’s failings, and recollect that we, too, were very likely indolent and voluptuous, had we no motive for work, a mortal’s natural taste for pleasure, and the daily temptation of a large income. What could a great peer, with a great castle and park, and a great fortune, do but be splendid and idle?”
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863)