On a very dreich return trip from England a couple of years ago we took a left at Gretna and headed into Dumfriesshire in search of castles to make the journey home a bit more interesting.Our first stop was on the west edge of Annan where in the early 12th century David I granted land to the de Brus family on the east bank of the River Annan, and soon after 1124 they began building a timber and earthwork castle.Annan Castle consists of a motte at the north end of a bailey, separated from it by a ditch. The motte has a diameter of around 15m and rises to a height of around 6m and is now covered in trees.The flat area of the bailey stretches to a length of some 260m and is now a public park.The rain was pretty Biblical by this point so after slipping and sliding our way down the ditch in an attempt to climb the motte we admitted defeat and headed down towards the river below.... continue reading....
