Surrounded by a double moat and hundreds of acres of flat marshy willow woods (known in Scotland as a "moss"), Caerlaverock was built to control the South-West entrance to Scotland which in early times was the waterway across the Solway Firth. Building began in about 1277, and by 1300 it was besieged by Edward I during his war against the Scottish king John (Balliol), a war still remembered for the brave resistance put up by the Scots under Sir William Wallace. Its triangular plan is unique in Scotland, and during the seige of 1300 it was noted as being. Caerlaverock Castle. It lies off the B725 seven miles south of Dumfries.
