History of the Stewarts | Castles and Buildings
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Spynie Palace - Residence of the Bishops of Moray
Spynie Palace, also known as Spynie Castle, was the fortified seat of the Bishops of Moray for about 500 years. The founding of the palace dates back to the late 12th Century. A thriving settlement developed about it. Today, nothing remains of either the sea-loch or the medieval town. However, the gaunt ruin of Spynie Palace does survive remarkably intact. Together with St Andrews Castle in Fife, Spynie remains the largest surviving medieval bishop’s house in Scotland.
The earliest buildings at Spynie have not survived. The oldest surviving masonry – the enclosure walls running around the south and west sides of the courtyard and the stump of a projecting round tower at the SW angle – date from the 14th century. In this period Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, otherwise known as the Wolf of Badenoch, attacked and burned Elgin Cathedral in June 1390. It also appears that he took Spynie Castle as King Robert III (Buchan´s brother) issued an instruction to Buchan in August 1390 forbidding him to ´intromit´ the Castle of Spynie for any reason. Following Bishop Alexander Bur´s death in 1397, the King, in conformity with feudal established practice during the period of the vacant Seat, took possession of the castle and perversely appointed the now reformed Wolf of Badenoch to be warden of the castle. After the election of the new bishop, the King issued a writ on 3 May 1398 to Buchan to hand over the castle and contents to Bishop William without claiming expenses.
. In the later 15th century, Bishop David Stewart built the great tower, the tower is the largest by volume of all medieval Scottish tower. It was subsequently named after him, David’s Tower. Stewart was also responsible for converting the old hall in the west range to kitchens to service the tower. It was said that the building of the tower was a reaction to intimidation from the Earl of Huntly whom Stewart had excommunicated for failing to pay his taxes
By 1500, a large new great hall and chamber had been erected along the north side of the courtyard, an elaborate new gateway opened along the east side, and rectangular towers added to two of the corners. The last building works were carried out for the last pre-Reformation bishop, Patrick Hepburn – wide-mouthed gunholes inserted into the bases of the towers. He was clearly anticipating trouble. He continued to live there after the Reformation.
Ruxby, an agent provocateur of Elizabeth I of England, who had tried to lead Mary, Queen of Scots, into a plot with English Roman Catholics, was imprisoned in Spynie Castle in 1566 for eighteen months during Bishop Patrick Hepburn´s tenure. Hepburn fell foul of the Privy Council for sheltering his relative Bothwell in 1567 who had fled from Spynie to Orkney and finally to Denmark where he eventually died.
In the seventh century, King James VI restored to the bishopric of Moray the endowments that remained. Bishop John Guthrie, who was a well known royalist, ceased to be the bishop in 1638 when all bishops were deposed by the general assembly – he and his family continued to live at Spynie .
Guthrie refused to subscribe to the Covenant and prepared the castle for a siege which duly arrived in 1640 in the form of Covenanter Col. Sir Robert Monro and his 800 men.[29]
Guthrie surrendered the castle immediately on 16 July and the castle was disarmed, however he was allowed, together with his wife and servants, to stay within the castle. Although under house arrest, Guthrie was forced to pay for the upkeep of the garrison of twenty four men. In September 1640, Guthrie was imprisoned in Aberdeen on rather dubious accusations. The castle was then granted to the Earl of Moray by King Charles I. Elgin and surrounding areas were staunchly anti-Royalist and after his victory against the Covenanters at Auldearn on 9 May 1645, James Graham, Marquis of Montrose turned his attention towards Elgin. The Laird of Innes and Grant of Ballindalloch and some burgesses from Elgin prepared the castle for a siege. Montrose occupied Elgin and burned the homes of leading Covenanter supporters in the town and the farmyard buildings belonging to Spynie but did not attempt to take the castle. Spynie had become the centre for the Covenanters in the area and this fact had not gone un-noticed with the Royalists. The Marquis of Huntly laid siege to the castle in late 1645 leaving Lord Lewis Gordon in charge but the castle´s defences held until it was relieved by John Middleton, the future Earl of Middleton.
Following the restoration of the Episcopy to the Scottish Church in 1662 ownership of the castle passed back to the church, but it was starting to fall into decay. Parliament granted Bishop Murdo MacKenzie £1000 for repairs and this sustained the building up to 1689[34] when the last occupant, Bishop William Hay was expelled after refusing to take an oath of allegiance to King William and Queen Mary.
The palace passed into the hands of the Crown and the fine iron work and wood carvings removed. Local people plundered the walls for stonework for building works until the early 19th century when the Crown stopped the quarrying and instituted a maintenance policy. It is now owned by Historic Scotland
The earliest buildings at Spynie have not survived. The oldest surviving masonry – the enclosure walls running around the south and west sides of the courtyard and the stump of a projecting round tower at the SW angle – date from the 14th century. In this period Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, otherwise known as the Wolf of Badenoch, attacked and burned Elgin Cathedral in June 1390. It also appears that he took Spynie Castle as King Robert III (Buchan´s brother) issued an instruction to Buchan in August 1390 forbidding him to ´intromit´ the Castle of Spynie for any reason. Following Bishop Alexander Bur´s death in 1397, the King, in conformity with feudal established practice during the period of the vacant Seat, took possession of the castle and perversely appointed the now reformed Wolf of Badenoch to be warden of the castle. After the election of the new bishop, the King issued a writ on 3 May 1398 to Buchan to hand over the castle and contents to Bishop William without claiming expenses.
. In the later 15th century, Bishop David Stewart built the great tower, the tower is the largest by volume of all medieval Scottish tower. It was subsequently named after him, David’s Tower. Stewart was also responsible for converting the old hall in the west range to kitchens to service the tower. It was said that the building of the tower was a reaction to intimidation from the Earl of Huntly whom Stewart had excommunicated for failing to pay his taxes
By 1500, a large new great hall and chamber had been erected along the north side of the courtyard, an elaborate new gateway opened along the east side, and rectangular towers added to two of the corners. The last building works were carried out for the last pre-Reformation bishop, Patrick Hepburn – wide-mouthed gunholes inserted into the bases of the towers. He was clearly anticipating trouble. He continued to live there after the Reformation.
Ruxby, an agent provocateur of Elizabeth I of England, who had tried to lead Mary, Queen of Scots, into a plot with English Roman Catholics, was imprisoned in Spynie Castle in 1566 for eighteen months during Bishop Patrick Hepburn´s tenure. Hepburn fell foul of the Privy Council for sheltering his relative Bothwell in 1567 who had fled from Spynie to Orkney and finally to Denmark where he eventually died.
In the seventh century, King James VI restored to the bishopric of Moray the endowments that remained. Bishop John Guthrie, who was a well known royalist, ceased to be the bishop in 1638 when all bishops were deposed by the general assembly – he and his family continued to live at Spynie .
Guthrie refused to subscribe to the Covenant and prepared the castle for a siege which duly arrived in 1640 in the form of Covenanter Col. Sir Robert Monro and his 800 men.[29]
Guthrie surrendered the castle immediately on 16 July and the castle was disarmed, however he was allowed, together with his wife and servants, to stay within the castle. Although under house arrest, Guthrie was forced to pay for the upkeep of the garrison of twenty four men. In September 1640, Guthrie was imprisoned in Aberdeen on rather dubious accusations. The castle was then granted to the Earl of Moray by King Charles I. Elgin and surrounding areas were staunchly anti-Royalist and after his victory against the Covenanters at Auldearn on 9 May 1645, James Graham, Marquis of Montrose turned his attention towards Elgin. The Laird of Innes and Grant of Ballindalloch and some burgesses from Elgin prepared the castle for a siege. Montrose occupied Elgin and burned the homes of leading Covenanter supporters in the town and the farmyard buildings belonging to Spynie but did not attempt to take the castle. Spynie had become the centre for the Covenanters in the area and this fact had not gone un-noticed with the Royalists. The Marquis of Huntly laid siege to the castle in late 1645 leaving Lord Lewis Gordon in charge but the castle´s defences held until it was relieved by John Middleton, the future Earl of Middleton.
Following the restoration of the Episcopy to the Scottish Church in 1662 ownership of the castle passed back to the church, but it was starting to fall into decay. Parliament granted Bishop Murdo MacKenzie £1000 for repairs and this sustained the building up to 1689[34] when the last occupant, Bishop William Hay was expelled after refusing to take an oath of allegiance to King William and Queen Mary.
The palace passed into the hands of the Crown and the fine iron work and wood carvings removed. Local people plundered the walls for stonework for building works until the early 19th century when the Crown stopped the quarrying and instituted a maintenance policy. It is now owned by Historic Scotland
