Roslin Castle and Graveyard

We went off today for a walk in Roslin Glen where the main attraction is the partly ruined Roslin Castle (sometimes also spelled Rosslyn as per the nearby Rosslyn Chapel)

The castle itself dates back to the 14th Century when it was build by Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. Amazingly it's still in the hands of the same family, now belonging to the present Earl of Rosslyn who is a descendant of the Sinclair family. You approach the castle via a very high  bridge over the glen below, but it is also possible to walk beneath this and I have added John to the picture in order to show you the scale of the arch underneath the bridge. This gives you a good idea of just how tall the entire ruins are.

This is taken after going underneath the arch and turning right where you walk along one of the sides of the castle and it's clear to see that vegetation is slowly conquering the building.

 It's climbing ever higher turning the walls slowly green.

But amazingly if you look carefully you can see that the top windows belong to a habitable residence. This east top side was restored in the eighties and if you're so inclined you can rent it as a holiday home. I personally would be ever so slightly worried about resting on the ruins of past centuries. I've no idea if there is still access to the lower half and if so whether or not it's safe to enter and explore. It would be fascinating to get in there and see what remains of this castle's past glories.
However judging from the state of the windows in the lower half you would have to be prepared to fight your way through many cobwebs, vegetation and who knows what other horrors. Still I would be prepared to do so in order to see the interior.

On our way back out of the Glen we passed Roslin graveyard and as most of you will know by now I can't make my way past a graveyard without at least having a quick look.  There aren't many very old gravestones in Roslin and I promised myself to return one day by myself to investigate them further but in the meantime I spotted the above 19th Century angel. She too is in danger of disappearing under overhanging trees and ivy and that would be a shame as she is very lovely indeed. You can see her face in detail at the top of the post (also my blip for today).

This is one of the older gravestones (18th Century) with elaborate decorations as you can see, in the classical style. As ever my main interest was in the detail, such as seen below.