Castle Rushen in the heart of Castletown is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in the world.
Castle Rushen is sited at the edge of Castletown Harbour and protects the entrance to the Silverburn River and guards the south of the Island. It towers of the town's Market Square.
The castle is built from local limestone and consist today of a central keep, protected by a high surrounding wall which is followed on most of the landward side by a a dry moat. On the perimeter is the glacis a wall whose top is sloped to deflect cannonballs. The glacis would originally hav been stone face but now the slope is grassed.
The castle’s keep, dates form the 12th to the 14th and the surrounding wall dates from the 14th century. The glacis dates from around 1540.
The other major castle building is Derby House which was built to provided more comfortable living quarters than those available within the keep. Derby House was built in the 1640's by the seventh Earl of Derby.
The Manx Gaelic name for the Castle Rushen is Caer ny Clett ('fort of the hurdle') and suggests that the stone keep was built to replace a defensive palisade fort.
The Manx Gaelic name for the town Balleycashtal which is a translation from the English and not the name of the castle.
The original date of construction for the stone keep is uncertain but the earliest document evidence comes from the 'Chronicles os the Kings of Man and Isles’; which record that when the Norse King Mangus II died in November 1265 he died at Castle Rushen.
'The Castle was an administrative centre, firstly of the south of the Island for the Norse Kings, and later, once Peel Castle was becoming less important, for the whole Island for the English Lord of Man. It still retains a formal legislative importance as the place where a new Lieutenant Governor is sworn in."
Source: 'A Gazetteer of the Isle of Man' by Leslie Quilliam RBV (ISBN: 0 9514539 1 2)
Castle Rushen's good condition is partly due to the renovation work which was over seen by by the architect Armitage Rigby in the 1870s partly a consequence of its continued Government use.
Today the building is controlled by Manx National Heritage and is open to the public as a museum which recreates some of the sights, sounds and smells of from the castle’s past.
In its time Castle Rushen has been a fortress, a prison, a seat of government and a stately home.
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visit link)
'A Walk Around Castletown: Ancient Capital of Mann' download from www.visitisleofman.com
'A Gazetteer of the Isle of Man' by Leslie Quilliam RBV (ISBN: 0 9514539 1 2)
'Profile of Castletown' by Derek Winterbottom (ISBN: 1-899602-39-1)
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visit link)