Sanquhar Castle is a sadly neglected ruin on the edge of the village of Sanquhar. You can read about it on the Undiscovered Scotland website; there's no point in me repeating the same information here. I explored and photographed the castle in October 2012.

Sanquhar Castle could make a decent tourist attraction, but no effort had been made to exploit its potential. Instead the local authorities had erected a fence to keep people away. However, someone had made a large hole in the fence, so I availed myself of the opportunity to explore inside. It was a calculated risk - the buildings contained many hazards, but I thought that I was unlikely to get hurt as long as I remained alert and exercised caution. I had a good look around, carrying only a small camera without a tripod, and managed to get some decent photographs without suffering a scratch.

Some of the stonework was obviously far more recent than the rest. Presumably this dates from the abortive late 19th century restoration that is mentioned in the Undiscovered Scotland article. Many other visitors had obviously preceded me, and some of them had defaced the stonework with spray-painted or carved graffiti.