Spynie Palace

Infobox Military Structure
name=Spynie Palace
partof=
location=Spynie, Nr Elgin, Moray, Scotland
coordinates=coord|57|40|34|N|03|17|29|W


caption=
type=Keep with curtain wall
code=
built=1st c1150
2nd c1250
builder=Bishop of Moray
materials=Sandstone
height=22 metres
used= c1150 — 1689
demolished=
condition=Ruin
ownership=Historic Scotland
open_to_public=Yes (entry fee)
controlledby=
garrison=
current_commander=
commanders=
occupants=
battles=
events=besieged 1640 and 1645

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. It is situated about 500m from the location of the first officially settled Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Moray, in present day Spynie Churchyard. For most of its occupied history, the castle was not described as a "palace" — this term first appeared in the Registry of Moray in a writ of 1524. [Registrum Moraviense, p. 401]

Background

The beginnings of the Bishopric of Moray are unclear. The first mention of a bishop was Gregoir in the 1120’s when his name appeared on several royal charters. The early Bishops of Moray had no fixed abode but moved between houses at Birnie, Kinneddar and Spynie. [Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis, 40—43] In 1172, King William I, the Lion, made grants to the church of the Holy Trinity of the bishopric of Moray and to Bishop Simon de Tosny. Formal permission for the permanent move to Spynie was given by Pope Innocent III in April 1206 to Bishop Bricius de Douglas and probably carried out by 1208. [Donaldson, G: The Foundation of Elgin Cathedral, in Maclean, A 1974 (ed): Elgin Cathedral and Diocese of Moray, Inverness, p. 2] Bishop Bricius attended the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and may have appealed to Innocent to transfer the see of Moray to Elgin. However, he certainly wrote to him requesting the move before July 1216. [Registrium Episcacopatus Moravienses no. 45] The cathedral church at Spynie was considered vulnerable to attack and too far from market and Elgin with its Royal castle would have been seen as a better option. Bricius did not live to see the changes, dying in 1222, but by his successor, Bishop Andrew of Moray. [Fawcett, R: Elgin Cathedral, Edinburgh, 1991, p. 34] Although the See of Moray was transferred to the Church of the Holy Trinity in Elgin on 19 July 1224, the Bishop of Moray's episcopal palace was to remain at Spynie. [Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002, p. 2]

The fortified residence

The 12th and 13th century castle

The first castle was a wooden structure built in the late 12th century and was revealed in excavations carried out between 1986 and 1994. [Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002, p. 23] The excavated evidence suggests that the buildings were surrounded by a rectangilar ringwork and ditch which seem to have enclosed an area of roughly the same as the 14th century curtain wall,ie, an enclosure of 45 - 65m and is large even by medieval ringworks found elsewhere in Britain. It is likely that the buildings would have consisted of the bishop's house with a hall, a bed chamber and a chapel and also holding a brewhouse and a bakehouse. [Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002, p.2] The stone buildings first appeared in the 13th Century with the establishment of what was thought to have been a chapel and which had coloured glass windows. [Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002, p.29]

The first recorded mention of the castle is in a document held in the British Museum. This manuscript dates from the early 14th century but appears to have been compiled between 1292 and 1296 and was apparently for the use of English administrators during King Edward I of England's occupation of Scotland. [Skene, W F(Ed): Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, Edinburgh, pp. 214, 215] [Simpson, W D: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, Elgin, 1927, pp 2, 3] The first writ issued at Spynie Castle was in 1343 and is recorded in the Register of Moray [Registrum Moraviense, p. 127]

The 14th and early 15th centuries

The remaining wooden buildings were gradually replaced with stone and this continued through into the 14th century when the first main castle building was erected. This was a near square structure built within a 7 meter high curtain wall. The main entrance in the wall faced to the south and a tower that projected from the South-East corner had narrow openings for archers.

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 II (Buchan's brother) issued an instruction to Buchan in August 1390 forbidding him to ‘intromit’ the Castle of Spynie for any reason. [Simpson, W: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, Elgin, 1927, p. 5] 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. [Simpson, W: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, Elgin, 1927, p. 5] After the election of the new bishop, the King issued a writ on 3rd May, 1398 to Buchan to hand over the castle and contents to Bishop William without claiming expenses. [Simpson, W: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, Elgin, 1927, p. 5]

The later 15th and 16th centuries

It is thought that Bishop John de Winchester (1435 - 60) was responsible for moving the main gate to the east wall which contained a strong portcullis. [Simpson, W D: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, Elgin, 1927, pp 13 - 15] The architectural detail of the upper section of the gate remain and show the gatekeeper's room complete with small fireplace. John, as well as being the Bishop of Moray, was also the king's Master of Works and had been responsible for alterations to the castles at Inverness and Urquhart as well as the palace at Linlithgow. [Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002, p.88] The fine stonework and styling of the gate may have been carried out by the master-masons working on the restoration work at Elgin Cathedral following its destruction in 1390. [MacGibbon; Ross: Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 443-4] The most significant buildings were established in the later 15th century through into the 16th century when David’s Tower (also known as Davey’s Tower) was built along with other substantial accommodation areas. The tower is the largest by volume of all medieval Scottish towers measuring 19m by 13.5m and 22m in height and was started by Bishop David Stewart (1462 – 76) and completed by Bishop William Tulloch (1477 – 82). [Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002, p. 51] It has 6 storeys above ground and had a garret on the top. Below ground is a vaulted basement which is approximately 1.5m below the level of the courtyard; it contains a circular dungeon, 5.3m in diameter, lit only by a narrow loop looking to the west and has a slightly domed vaulted roof. [Simpson, W D: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, Elgin, 1927, p. 8] The ground floor contained the hall which is 12.8m by 6.7m and lit by large windows with built in stone seats. [ibid, p.8] At the NE corner was a spiral staircase which led to the upper floors. Each of these floors were similar in design with a single large room and smaller chambers leading off it. The tower is plain and practically lacking in architectural features; the external walls were originally rendered while the internal walls were plastered. [Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002,]

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. [Rhind, W: Sketches of the Past and Present State of Moray, 1839] During the mid 16th century, a walled garden to the south of the castle precinct, was established mainly to house an orchard. A deed was signed in the garden in 1556 indicating that it would have been a pleasant place to relax in. [Fraser, Sir William: The Chiefs of Grant, Vol. III, p. 124] The household diet was further supplemented when a rabbit warren and a doocot were added in 1569. [Registrum Magni Sigilli, 1546—80, No. 1907] Bishop Patrick Hepburn (1538 – 73), the last Roman Catholic bishop at Spynie, installed wide-mouth gun-loops to boost the castle defences and enlarges some windows. [Simpson, W D: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, Elgin, 1927, pp. 10, 11, 15] He continued to live at Spynie for a period after the Reformation.

Ruxby, an agent provocateur of Elizabeth I of England, who had tried to lead Queen Mary Stuart into a plot with English Roman Catholics, was imprisoned in Spynie Castle in 1566 for eighteen months during Bishop Patrick Hepburn's tenure. [Stevenson, J (Ed) : Claude Nau's History of Mary Stuart, p. 27] . 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. [Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, Vol. I, p. 531] [Stevenson, J: Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary, p. 217]

As part of the pacification following the abdication of Queen Mary, Regent Morton, in a meeting of the Privy Council at Perth on 23 February 1573, ordered that the castle be made available to the Crown, if needed: [Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, Vol. II, p. 195]

"the hous of Spyne salbe randerit and deliverit to oure Soverane Lord and his Regent foirsaid quhen it salbe requirite on XV dayis warning, without prejudice of ony partiis rycht."

On 29 July 1587, King James VI gave the castle and estate to Alexander Lindsay, 1st Lord Spynie and remained in his hands until he surrendered them back to the Crown in December 1605. [Reg. Magni Sigill, 1580—93, No. 1727] During this period in 1595, Spynie was one of the castles that had additional fortification installed as protection against a perceived threat from the Spaniards.

The 17th century

In 1606, King James restored to the bishopric of Moray the endowments that remained. [Miscellany of the Spalding Club, Vol. II, Introduction, p. xlviii] 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 however. Guthrie refused to subscribe to the Covenant and prepared the castle for a siege which duly arrived in 1640 in the form of Covenanter turned his attention towards Elgin. The Laird of Innes and Grant of Ballindalloch and some burgesses from Elgin prepared the castle for a siege. [Spalding, J: Memorials of the Troubles in Scotland and England 1624 - 1645, Aberdeen, 1850-1, II, p. 447] 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. [Simpson, W: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, 1927 pp. 31,32] 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. [Simpson, W: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, 1927 pp. 32,33 ]

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 [Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. VII, pp. 409,410] when the last occupant, Bishop William Hay was expelled after refusing to take an oath of allegiance to King William and Queen Mary. [MacLean, A (ed): Elgin Cathedral and the Diocese of Moray,, Inverness, 1974, pp. 8,9] 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. [Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002, p.10]

List of Bishops of Moray

Royal visitors

Notes

Main references

*Buchanan, George: The History of Scotland, Vol III, 1856
*Donaldson, G: The Foundation of Elgin Cathedral, in Maclean, A 1974 (ed): Elgin Cathedral and Diocese of Moray,, Inverness, p. 2
*Fawcett, R: Elgin Cathedral, Edinburgh, 1991
*Lewis, Pringle: Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray, Edinburgh, 2002
*MacGibbon; Ross: Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1887
*Simpson, W D: The Palace of the Bishops of Moray at Spynie, Elgin, 1927

External links

*historic-scotland-link|247
* [http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/majorsites/aa/spynie.html Mysterious Britain: Spynie Palace]
* [http://www.marie-stuart.co.uk/Castles/Spynie.htm Mary, Queen of Scots website]
* [http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/elgin/spynie/index.html Undiscovered Scotland Feature Page on Spynie Palace]

Bishop's Palace *Ruins: [http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/elgin/spynie/images/seview.jpg] , [http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/majorsites/images2/spynie1.jpg] , [http://www.phouka.com/travel/castles/spynie/spynie15.jpg]

*Bishop's Church: [http://www.headstones.fsnet.co.uk/spynie1.jpg]