St Andrews - 7

Here we see Bishop Roger de Beaumont supervising the building of the early castle.



The bishops, later archbishops of St Andrews occupied a leading position in the Scottish church, and were also among the great men of the kingdom.

Bishop Roger de Beaumont, Chancellor of Scotland, built the castle about the year 1200 to provide essential protection for himself and his property, and as a reflection of his status. However, most of what still stands today dates from later periods, because the earlier structure was destroyed during the Wars of Independence, in the first half of the fourteenth century.

After 1385 the new bishop, Walter Trail, rebuilt the castle from its foundations; the pentagonal layout he established remained the basis for all its later development.