Best Castle in City of Edinburgh, Scotland - Map and Reviews

Dundas Castle lies 8 miles out of Edinburgh, Scotland. Dundas Castle is a magnificent event venue built around the original Auld Keep, constructed in 1416. The main house is of more recent origin, being built in 1818. Dundas Castle can cater for events of up to 180 guests. Adjacent to the castle on the east lawn is a large pavilion Facilities The castle can be rented out for private functions such as dinners, meetings, conferences, golf holidays, weddings, and receptions. It is hired out exclusively to one group at a time (it is a Five Star Exclusive Use venue). The Boathouse, a private cottage on the shores of a private loch, can also be rented. In 1416, James Dundas was granted a license to build a keep from the Duke of Albany, who was Scotland's effective ruler at the time. Dundas Castle was built in the same year for the purpose of being a home during times of peace and a fortress in war. An extension to the castle was permitted in 1436, which is why the building is not square. Oliver Cromwell stayed at Dundas Castle, and a statue of him is situated just outside the Keep. In 1818, the 17th Century building was torn down and replaced by Henry Dundas. However, the reconstruction ended up costing so much that the castle and its estate had to be sold in 1846, and changed hands again in 1899. It has stayed in the Stewart-Clark family since then. The real restoration of the castle began in 1995, as the Keep had not been lived in for over 300 years. It is currently owned by, and home to, Sir Jack and Lady Lydia Stewart-Clark. The Arts Dundas Castle has appeared in the background of the films The Little Vampire, Summer Solstice, and Book of Blood. It has also appeared in Arnold Clark advertisements.

Lauriston Castle is a 16th century tower house overlooking the Firth of Forth, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Lauriston Castle was originally a four-storey L plan tower house, with a circular stair tower. The tower had two storey angle turrets with gun loops. The castle gardens includes a Japanese garden opened in 2002. The castle has views of the river Forth. The original tower house was built around 1590 by Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston, the father of John Napier, the inventor of logarithms. In 1827 the castle was extended in the Jacobean style by William Burn with the addition of a range converting it to a country manor.. William Reid acquired Lauriston Castle in 1902 and he and his wife Margaret added a collection of fine furniture and artwork. The Reids left their home to Scotland and The City of Edinburgh has administered the house since 1926.

Craigmillar Castle on the southern outskirts of Edinburgh is one of the best-preserved and most historically significant medieval castles in Scotland, a substantial L-plan tower house and enclosure castle dating from the fourteenth century that was closely associated with the Scottish royal court for two centuries and is particularly connected with the tragic history of Mary Queen of Scots. Standing in a quiet setting of parkland that preserves something of the rural character it would have had during its years of active use, Craigmillar offers a more contemplative and less crowded experience of Scottish medieval architecture than the royal castles within the city itself. The castle developed in stages from the original tower of around 1400 through successive enclosures and ranges added over the following two centuries, creating a layered architectural complex that provides an excellent illustration of how Scottish castle design evolved from a single defensive tower toward a more complex and comfortable residence. The main tower remains standing to full height and the various courts and buildings of the expanded complex can be explored with considerable freedom, giving a strong impression of how a major Scottish aristocratic castle functioned as a working residence. The connection with Mary Queen of Scots gives Craigmillar its most historically charged associations. Mary retreated to the castle in late 1566 following the traumatic murder of her Italian secretary David Rizzio at Holyrood, and it was here that the Conference of Craigmillar took place, at which the terms of addressing the problem of her difficult husband Lord Darnley were discussed among her principal advisers. Whether the agreement reached here extended to planning Darnley's murder three months later at Kirk o' Field has been debated by historians ever since without resolution. The castle is managed by Historic Environment Scotland and provides views from its upper levels over the city and toward the Firth of Forth.

Merchiston Castle in Edinburgh is a sixteenth-century tower house that was the birthplace and home of John Napier, the mathematician and theologian who invented logarithms in 1614, one of the most significant mathematical innovations in history. The tower house was built in the late fifteenth century and Napier was born here in 1550, spending much of his life at the castle where he carried out the mathematical work that produced his Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio, the publication that introduced logarithms to the world and transformed the practice of complex mathematical calculation. The castle is now incorporated into Napier University's Merchiston Campus in south Edinburgh, which takes its name from Napier himself. The tower is a well-preserved example of a late medieval Edinburgh tower house.