Covenanters' attack on Stranraer castle

We recently did some open air outreach outside Stranraer Castle - also known as the Castle of St John. In the late 1600s, the Castle served as a prison for Covenanters as well as a base for Covenanting persecutor John Graham of Claverhouse - ‘Bloody Claverhouse’.

Around the summer of 1685, some Covenanters attacked the castle in order to rescue prisoners.

The historian Robert Wodrow records that:

On 15 October, 1685, the privy council appointed that ‘Hugh M’Kinasters, who has made discoveries of several persons rebels in Galloway, and who were accessory to the attack of the castle of Stranraer, whereof some are taken, to be further examined upon oath by the earl of Balcarras and [John Graham of] Claverhouse.’ (Wodrow, History, IV, 223.)

Dumfries & Galloway Council have an information leaflet about the Castle that you can view here. You can watch some recent drone footage of the Castle below: