Team Leip Travels: The Castle Rushen of Castletown

Monday, July 22, 2019

The Castle Rushen of Castletown

We got back on the train and headed north again. At Castletown we disembarked and walked to Castle Rushen. This started as a Viking Keep built over a freshwater stream in 1265 AD. Over the centuries it was added onto and expanded. They had a great display that was colour coded according to the year that that area was added. It showed when and where all the different improvements came about. The castle itself had mannequins and audiovisual items to help explain how it was used at various times over the centuries. At one point in time it was a fortification. Other times it was the home of the nobility. It was also a prison for a number of years. We climbed to the top and looked out over the town. We saw a picnic area below and decided that would be what we would do for lunch. We popped into a shop and bought our picnic lunch. Great lunch and good people watching.

Approaching the Castle

Here we are

The town is pretty small

The penguins are very relaxed

Seagull spa

Getting closer

Swans in the harbor

Smaller boats in the tiny harbor

The round house at the entry

Walking in

Portcullis

Murder holes! If the enemy made it this far destruction rained down from these holes in the roof

The lowest part is the Viking Keep

The light pink is the oldest and most obscured by later work

Arghhh why are the Vikings always looking so fierce? Maybe he was a poet?

Is this a binary number? 1011 adds up to 11 in base 10, or is it an old time IOU?

This display was accompanied with an audio recording. The audio was if this man moaning. At first I thought it was of a dragon or of whale songs. It was most unusual and almost creepy