Castle Sween (3)
The site chosen for the castle is a rocky ridge, running parallel with the shore.  Boats were virtually the only practical form of transport back then, both for getting around the place and for dominating the surrounding sea-lanes.  There is a generous sandy beach just 150 yards further south of the castle, onto which boats could be pulled up, and the shore line here, at bottom left of the photo, has also been cleared of large boulders for boat access.

The most curious feature of the whole castle is the way the large boulders seen here have been dealt with.  Or not dealt with!  A cave runs in under the west tower, and while the massive boulders have been underpinned with masonry arranged herring-bone fashion (and a concrete support pier added in the 1980s), there is no obvious indication that the cave was ever sealed up.  One rather imagines a besieging force popping in there for a cup of tea and a spot of light lunch, safe from anything the defenders could do to them, before resuming the siege in the afternoon!
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