Cromwell Scotland General Information Page

Glossary :-

Bastion  - an extension of the corner of a fort to give increased firepower,  especially along the sides.

Glacis - on later forts a grassy  area outside the fort which was sloped up to  hide the fort except  for the gunports. Most shots fired at the fort would hit  the glacis  and be deflected upwards.

Out-works - a term for the outer fortifications  of a fort; ditch, ravelin,  glacis etc.

Rampart - the earth  wall which provided a fort's defences.

Ravelin - a triangular  outwork with defensive wall on the outer face only. If  captured  by an attacker it was open to fire from the fort.

Sally Port - effectively the fort's back-door, troops could leave by these and take attacking forces by surprise.

Slighting  - a term used for partial destruction of a fort. This was usually  accomplished by tearing down the wall and rampart of one side  of the fort to  make it indefensible.

Bibliography :-

The Castles of South-West Scotland, by Mike Salter published by Folly Publications, ISBN 1 871731 16 X
An excellent book covering castles in Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire.

The Castles of Scotland, by Martin Coventry, originally published by GOBLINSHEAD,  4th edition published by Birlinn Ltd, ISBN 10 1 84158 449 5 & ISBN 13 978 1 84158 449 2
The book is described on the cover as 'The Bible of Scottish Castles', that pretty well sums it up.

Castles Map of Scotland, published by Collins, a very useful aid.

Websites :-

Citadels -

Reprints of late nineteenth early twentyieth century Ordnance Survey large scale town maps.

http://www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk

 National Library of Scotland map collection, comprising military and civilian maps, a must for anyone interested in the military history of Scotland in the 17th & 18th centuries.

http://maps.nls.uk/

 Information on Ayr Citadel

http://old.scotwars.com/Ayr_citadel.htm

The original artwork for the sign displayed at Ayr Citadel.

 http://www.scottishillustrators.com/robert-nelmes/rnelmes3.jpg.php

Information on Inverness Citadel

 http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/inverness/inverness/index.html  

Information on Leith Citadel

http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst7842.html

Information on Perth Citadel

http://www.perthshirediary.com/html/day0114.html      

Forts & Ruins -

The following sites give information on Scottish Castles.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/uscategories/castles.html

http://www.rampantscotland.com/castleslnk.htm

http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_scotland/scotland.htm

http://www.castles.org/castles/Europe/Western_Europe/United_Kingdom/Scotland/

http://www.scotland.com/castles/