Castles – Scotland South East, Lothians ‘Build Date’ refers to the oldest surviving significant elements In column 1; LT ≡ Lothians Occupation LT CASTLE LOCATION Configuration Build Date Current Remains Status 1 Auldhame NT 602 847 Mansion 16th C Empty, 18th C High walls 2 Barnes NT 528 766 Enclosure 16th C Unfinished Extensive low ruins 3 Binns NT 053 786 Mansion 1620s Occupied Extensions added 4 Blackness NT 056 802 Enclosure 1440s Occupied Now run by HS but habitable 5 Borthwick NT 370 597 Tower + barmkin 1430 Occupied Restored, early 20th C 6 Brunstane NT 201 582 Enclosure 16th C Empty, 18th C Scattered ruins, visible from distance 7 Cairns NT 090 605 Tower 1440 Empty, 18th C High ruin 8 Cakemuir NT 413 591 Tower Mid-16th C Occupied Tower, with added extensions 9 Carberry NT 364 697 Tower 1547 Occupied Much extended, now a hotel 10 Craiglockhart NT 227 703 Tower c1500 Empty Ruin, lowest 2 storeys 11 Craigmillar NT 288 709 Enclosure + tower Late-14th C Empty, 18th C Extensive high ruins 12 Cramond NT 191 769 Tower + barmkin 14th C Occupied Restored, 20th C after period of disuse 13 Crichton NT 380 612 Enclosure 1370 Empty, 18th C Extensive high ruins 14 Dalhousie NT 320 636 Enclosure + tower Mid-15th C Occupied Many additions, now a hotel 15 Dalkeith NT 333 679 Enclosure + tower 15th C Occupied Castle hardly visible in 18th C palace 16 Dirleton NT 518 841 Enclosure 13th C Empty, 17th C Extensive high and low ruins 17 Dunbar NT 678 794 Enclosure? c1070 Empty, 16th C Scattered incoherent fragments 18 Dundas NT 116 767 Tower 1416 Occupied Complete, though modified 19 Edinburgh NT 252 735 Enclosure 14th C Occupied Damaged in sieges, and frequently modified 20 Falside NT 378 710 Tower 15th C Occupied Restored, 1980s after standing empty from 18th C 21 Fenton NT 543 822 Tower 16th C Occupied Empty from 17th to 20th C, restored 1998 22 Garleton NT 509 767 Tower + barmkin? 16th C Empty, 18th C Confusing ruins 23 Hailes NT 575 758 Enclosure 13th C Empty, 19th C Extensive ruins 24 Hawthornden NT 287 637 Tower 15th C Occupied Tower ruined, but 17th C attached range occupied 25 Hirendean NT 298 512 Tower 16th C Empty Low ruin 26 Innerwick NT 735 737 Enclosure 15th C Empty, 17th C Mainly low ruins 27 Kilspindie NT 462 801 Unknown 16th C Empty, 18th C A few stacked stones 28 Lauriston NT 204 762 Tower 1590s Occupied Entire with many added buildings 29 Lennox NT 176 671 Tower + barmkin? Late-15th C Empty, 17th C Ruined basement, and moat only 30 Lennoxlove NT 515 721 Tower 15th C Occupied Entire, greatly expanded with added wings 31 Liberton NT 265 697 Tower c1500 Occupied Restored in the 20th C 32 Markle NT 579 775 Enclosure 14th C Empty, 17th C Fragmentary remains 33 Midhope NT 073 787 Tower 16th C Empty, 20th C Intact, outside 34 Niddry NT 097 743 Tower + barmkin Early-16th C Occupied Restored, 1980s, may have been empty for a century 35 North Berwick NT 563 850 Motte & bailey 13th C Empty, 1420 Only earthen motte remains 36 Preston NT 390 741 Tower + barmkin 15th C Empty, 1663 High ruin 37 Redhouse NT 463 771 Tower + barmkin Late-16th C Empty. 18th C High ruin 38 Roslin NT 274 628 Enclosure 1304 Occupied Hall/kitchen block occupied, remainder ruined 39 Saltcoats NT 486 819 Tower Late-16th C Empty, 19th C High ruins of 1 wall 40 Stoneypath NT 596 714 Tower 15th C Occupied Restored, in the 21st C, after desertion in the 17th C 41 Tantallon NT 596 851 Enclosure 1370 Empty, 17th C Impressive high ruins 1 Occupation LT CASTLE LOCATION Configuration Build Date Current Remains Status 42 Uttershill NT 239 595 House Late-16th C Empty, 18th C Ruins of 2 floors, scaffolded 43 Waughton NT 567 809 Enclosure Late-14th C Empty, 18th C Fragmentary masonry & earthwork ruins 44 Whittinghame NT 602 733 Tower + barmkin c1500 Occupied Entire, but restored, 20th C 45 Yester NT 556 667 Enclosure + tower 13th C Empty, 16th C Scattered ruins + Goblin’s Ha Notes: 1. A total of 45 castles have been identified in the Lothians. My selection philosophy has been to include the great majority of those I have already visited and such others as I think interesting, with the existence of coherent masonry normally a prerequisite; I have usually excluded those which have benefitted from a modern reconstruction which could be described as a rebuild, unless it has preserved the exterior. There are remains of more castles in the region, which I do not consider, usually because they are fragmentary. So, my gazetteer is best regarded as a sample, albeit quite a large one, and any tentative conclusions I draw need to be seen in that light. 2. I have visited all 45 of the 45 castles on my list 3. There are 23 fortified tower houses, 7 of which show surviving evidence of a barmkin. There are no motte and bailey types with surviving stonework, though there is a surviving motte at North Berwick. There are 16 enclosure types, though distinctions between them, and the tower and barmkin combinations can be a matter of opinion. 2 were fortified houses. 4. Only 6 castles can be assigned with confidence to the period before the Scottish Wars of Independence, largely because then, and for some time afterwards, the Scottish government had a policy of demolishing castles to deny them to English forces, though the destruction caused by English armies in the 1540s, and Cromwell a century later is more of a factor in what survives, in this region than anywhere else in Scotland. 5. 20 castles remain occupied, a high proportion; 8 of their number have been fully restored, some after centuries standing empty and decaying. Of the small majority which are now empty, 6 were deserted in the 17th century, and 11 more in the 18th century. 2 LT1. Auldhame Castle, best regarded as a mansion, is obscured by trees above Seacliff bay, just south of Tantallon castle, and 5km east of North Berwick. The building was substantial, rising to 3 storeys, and comprising a long L-plan building with corner turrets and square towers, of total dimensions 18.3 X 8.3 m. It was built by the Otterburn family, incorporating some material from an earlier building on a site which may have been of religious significance before the castle's construction. Little is known of its history, but it became ruinous in the 18th century, and stone was quarried from it. The crow-stepped, gabled building had a yellow harling wash over its mixed rubble construction, and there was an outer barmkin-type wall which keyed into the east end of the castle and wrapped round towards the west side. Since the cliff has collapsed beside this wall and because of later quarrying, little remains to trace its bounds accurately. Noticeable survivals are corbelled out stair turrets above the wings, a large kitchen fireplace at basement level, and the doorway of an otherwise vanished south-west range. The photograph is a view from the north-east. 3 LT2. Barnes Castle, also known as the ‘Vaults’, stands on a ridge of the Garleton hills above Athelstaneford, 5km north-east of Haddington. The building was started by Sir John Seton of Barnes, a member of a powerful family in politics and the law, who held office under King James VI, but died with the castle incomplete in 1594. The evidence is that work ceased on his death and never proceeded beyond the basic level still visible. The extensive remains comprise the lowest vaulted storey of a mansion, to the north-east of a courtyard, at the top-centre in the aerial view. Rectangular in plan, of dimensions 49 X 38m, the courtyard was to be enclosed by walls of random rubble, mostly whinstone, with square towers projecting externally from the 4 corners and in addition, intermediate towers. Had it been completed, there would not have been a similar fortified building in the country. Now it finds some use for storing farm machinery, hence the red roofs. The lower photograph is a view from the north-west showing the basements of the mansion. 4 LT3. Binns House, or more usually, ‘House of the Binns’, is prominent on a hill- top, 5½km north-east of Linlithgow. Its inclusion here is tenuous, both because of a lack of fortification, and the absence of surviving medieval elements, but its omission would surprise as many. There was a manor house here in 1478, and it had various owners before it was purchased by an Edinburgh burgess, Thomas Dalyell. Between 1621 and 1630, he rebuilt the original house, and parts of the interior still reflect that period. Thomas Dalyell's more famous son, the Royalist General, Sir Tam Dalyell, continued the development of the house, adding the first of the towers, and the western range; the house was extended further in the mid-18th and early 19th centuries. There are many stories told of the aforementioned General Sir Thomas Dalyell of the Binns, 1st Baronet (1615–1685, not least because of his heavily bearded sinister appearance, and they include the allegation that he frequently played cards with the devil. When Dalyell achieved a rare victory, his enraged opponent is supposed to have thrown a marble table at him, but missed. The story was embellished when a pond beside the house was drained two centuries later, and a marble table was found there.