Best Castle in East Lothian, Scotland - Map and Reviews

Dirleton Castle is a situated in the village of Dirleton, East Lothian (about 19 miles east of Edinburgh). The castle was built in the 13th century by John De Vaux, and was abandoned by the end of the 17th century. Dirleton Castle is built on a rocky outcrop guarding the coastal approach to Edinburgh from England. The ruins of a 13th-century keep remain, along with an adjacent 16th-century house. The keep is made up of a large round tower to the south, a smaller round tower to the west, with the two round towers joined by a square tower. Other buildings within the courtyard have been demolished and basement levels of some of these survive. The castle is surrounded by gardens, which may have been first laid out in the 16th century, but is mainly 20th century plantings. There is a 16th century doocot, or pigeon house within the gardens. The castle was heavily damaged during the Wars of Scottish Independence, when it was twice taken by the English. Dirleton was acquired by the Ruthvens in 1505. The Ruthvens were involved in several plots against Mary, Queen of Scots and King James VI, and eventually forfeited the castle in 1600. Oliver Cromwell besieged the during the Third English Civil War in 1650. The damaged castle was then acquired by the Nisbets of Dirleton who continued to maintain the castle grounds. They handed Dirleton into state care in 1923. The ruins and gardens are now in the care of Historic Scotland.

Dunbar Castle is a ruined medieval fortification perched dramatically on a volcanic rock outcrop directly on the North Sea coast of East Lothian, Scotland. The ruins are situated at the harbour mouth of Dunbar, a historic fishing town, and the castle's remaining fragments — most notably a single weathered tower — rise above the churning waters in a way that has made this one of the most atmospheric and photographed sites on the Scottish coast. Though little survives architecturally, the location and the weight of history attached to it make Dunbar Castle genuinely compelling for visitors with an interest in Scottish history, coastal scenery, or simply dramatic landscapes. The castle's origins stretch back at least to the Early Medieval period, and it grew in power and strategic importance throughout the centuries that followed. It was the seat of the Earls of Dunbar, one of the most powerful noble families in medieval Scotland, and the stronghold played a central role in some of the defining events of Scottish history. Mary Queen of Scots was brought here in 1567 by the Earl of Bothwell — an episode freighted with political intrigue and personal drama — shortly before their controversial marriage, which ultimately contributed to her downfall and abdication. The castle also featured during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and Edward I of England besieged it in 1296. It was later partially demolished by order of the Scottish Parliament in 1567 to prevent further use as a refuge for enemies of the state, and the process of decay accelerated from that point. Physically, what remains is modest but evocative. The principal surviving element is a fragment of tower and some walling, now integrated into the stonework of the Victorian-era Dunbar Harbour. The ruins are dark with moisture and sea spray, the stone stained with salt and lichen, and on stormy days the waves crash against the base of the rock with considerable force. The sounds at this spot are dominated entirely by the sea — the cry of gulls, the slap of water against stone, and the groan and creak of fishing boats moored nearby. The horizon opens wide to the east, with nothing between the ruins and the coast of Scandinavia. The surrounding landscape is quintessentially East Lothian. The town of Dunbar itself is a compact and handsome place with a largely unspoiled high street of red sandstone buildings. The coastline in both directions is spectacular: to the north lies John Muir Country Park, named after the celebrated naturalist and conservationist who was born in Dunbar in 1838, offering miles of dune and beach walking. To the south, the Bass Rock — a dramatic volcanic plug home to one of the world's largest colonies of northern gannets — is clearly visible offshore. The wider area is part of the Firth of Forth, and the views on clear days extend across the water toward Fife and the distant hills beyond. Visiting is straightforward and free. The castle ruins are accessible year-round at any hour since they sit at the open harbour and are not enclosed behind gates. Dunbar is well served by the East Coast Main Line railway, with direct trains from Edinburgh taking around thirty minutes, making it an easy day trip from the capital. By road it sits just off the A1, roughly thirty miles east of Edinburgh. The harbour area itself is small and easily explored on foot, and the ruins can be viewed closely from the quayside without any need for specialist equipment or access permissions, though of course the crumbling masonry should not be climbed. The best times to visit are during spring and autumn, when the weather can be dramatic without being hostile and the daylight is generous. A remarkable and little-known connection threads through Dunbar Castle's story: John Muir, born just a short walk away on the High Street, spent his boyhood clambering over the castle ruins and the tidal rocks around the harbour. He later credited the wild coastline of East Lothian — these very rocks and waters — as the formative landscape of his love for the natural world. It is one of history's quietly significant ironies that a ruined castle on the Scottish coast helped shape the sensibility of the man who would go on to found the modern conservation movement and protect vast wilderness areas of the American West.

Hailes Castle is situated about 1.5 miles south west of East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland. This castle belonged to the Hepburn family. The major remaining structure is the West Tower, and also the smaller remains of the central tower. Other remains include a roofless chamber that may have been a chapel, a vaulted basement bakehouse and brewhouse. Only a finger of stonework remains of the East Tower. Hailes Castle has been owned by the state since 1926, and it is administered by Historic Scotland. The castle was originally built as a fortified tower house by Hugo de Gourlay in the 14th century. The de Gourlays supported the English in the Wars of Independence, and their land was forfeited and the castle and lands were given was given to Sir Adam de Hepburn. One of his descendents Sir Patrick Hepburn extended the castle in the 15th century building a large square tower to the west of the original castle, and a lower tower to the East. The thick curtain wall of the castle may date back to the 13th century. The castle was attacked by Archibald Dunbar in 1443 resulting in the massacre of the castle's inhabitants. In 1547 Lord Grey of Wilton occupied it for the English in 1547. In 1567 Mary Queen of Scots visited Hailes Castle. Oliver Cromwell partly destroyed the castle in 1650 after the battle of Dunbar. It later passed into the hands of the Stewarts, the Setons, and finally, in 1700, the Dalrymple of Hailes family. By the mid-19th century the castle was being used as a granary.

Fa'side Castle is a ruined tower house situated in East Lothian, Scotland, standing on a prominent ridge near the village of Tranent. It is one of the more evocative and historically layered fortifications in the Lothians, a region already rich in castles and defensive structures. The castle's elevated position gives it a commanding presence over the surrounding agricultural landscape, and while it is not a major tourist attraction in the conventional sense, it holds considerable interest for those drawn to Scottish medieval history, battlefield heritage, and the quiet drama of a ruin that has witnessed centuries of conflict and change. Its proximity to the site of the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh makes it particularly significant to those tracing the story of the Wars of the Rough Wooing. The origins of Fa'side Castle are generally traced to the thirteenth century, when a fortification of some kind is believed to have been established on this defensible high ground. The structure that survives, however, reflects later medieval construction typical of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The castle is most closely associated with the Fawside family, from whom it takes its name, and later passed through other hands including the Schaw family. Its most dramatic historical moment came in September 1547, just days before the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh — one of the bloodiest defeats ever suffered by a Scottish army. An English force under the Duke of Somerset besieged and burned Fa'side Castle as part of their broader campaign through the Lothians. The castle was reportedly still occupied at the time, and accounts suggest it was set ablaze with people inside, a grim episode that underscores the brutal nature of the conflict between England and Scotland during this period. Physically, Fa'side Castle presents itself as a consolidated ruin of a rectangular tower house, the main walls still standing to a reasonable height in places, though the interior has long since collapsed or been cleared. The masonry is of the rough rubble construction typical of Scottish tower houses of the period, and the walls carry the weathered, pitted texture that comes from centuries of exposure to the harsh east coast climate. Standing close to the structure, one is aware of the wind, which frequently sweeps across the ridge with considerable force, and of the deep quiet that settles around the ruin in the absence of visitors. The castle sits within a small farmstead context and has at various times had agricultural buildings constructed in close proximity to its walls, which adds to the sense of a place that has been quietly absorbed into the working landscape over the generations. The landscape surrounding Fa'side Castle is characteristic of East Lothian at its most open and agricultural. The ridge on which it stands provides views across a wide sweep of gently undulating farmland, with the Firth of Forth visible to the north on clear days and the hills of East Lothian rising to the south. The area between the castle and the coast was the scene of the 1547 battle, and the flat fields below retain a certain melancholy resonance for those who know the history. The village of Tranent lies close by to the west, and the town of Musselburgh is within a few miles to the north. The broader region is dotted with sites of historical interest, including Seton Collegiate Church, Hailes Castle, and the battlefield of Prestonpans, fought in 1745 during the Jacobite rising. Access to Fa'side Castle is relatively straightforward for those with their own transport, as it lies just off the minor road network between Tranent and the surrounding rural areas. It is not maintained as a formal visitor attraction, and there is no visitor centre, staffed entrance, or dedicated car park. The surrounding land is working farmland, and visitors should be respectful of this context. The best approach is on foot along the track that leads to the farmstead, and visitors should be prepared for potentially muddy conditions underfoot, particularly in autumn and winter. The castle itself should be approached with caution, as with any unconsolidated ruin, and entry into the structure is not advisable. The site is most rewarding in the quieter months when the light is low and dramatic, though the openness of the ridge means it can be visited at almost any time of year with appropriate clothing for the wind and weather. One of the more fascinating dimensions of Fa'side Castle's story is the way it straddles the boundary between documented history and local legend. The burning of the castle in 1547 left a mark on local memory, and the site carries a weight that is difficult to entirely attribute to its modest physical remains. There is also something quietly unusual about the way the castle has persisted in the landscape, never fully restored and never fully forgotten, present enough to mark the skyline without demanding attention. For students of Scottish history, it serves as a tangible link to one of the most turbulent and consequential periods in the relationship between Scotland and England, a period whose outcomes shaped the eventual union of the two crowns. That such a significant witness to those events survives even in ruined form, overlooking the very fields where so much blood was shed, gives Fa'side Castle a resonance that well exceeds its modest scale.

Dunbar Castle is a ruined medieval fortification perched dramatically on a rocky promontory at the harbour entrance of the town of Dunbar, on the East Lothian coast of Scotland. Although now reduced to a few weathered fragments of masonry, the castle was once one of the most strategically significant strongholds in all of Scotland, commanding both the coastal sea route and the landward approaches to the eastern Borders. Today its skeletal remains form a striking and atmospheric sight, rising from the black volcanic rock directly above the crashing North Sea, beloved by visitors and locals alike for its brooding silhouette against the Firth of Forth. The castle's origins stretch back to at least the early medieval period, and it is believed that a fortification of some kind has occupied this rocky headland since before the Norman conquest of England. The earldom of Dunbar was one of the most powerful in Scotland during the high medieval period, and the castle served as the seat of the Black Douglases and, most famously, of the earls of Dunbar and March. One of the most celebrated episodes in its history occurred in 1338, when Black Agnes — Agnes Randolph, Countess of March and Dunbar — successfully defended the castle against a five-month siege by English forces under the Earl of Salisbury. Her defiant wit and determination during the siege became legendary; she was said to have ostentatiously dusted the battlements with a handkerchief after each English bombardment to mock the ineffectiveness of their fire. This remarkable episode has ensured Black Agnes a permanent place in Scottish historical legend. The castle also features in the turbulent story of Mary Queen of Scots. After the murder of her husband Lord Darnley in 1567, Mary fled to Dunbar Castle with the Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of involvement in the killing. The couple married shortly after, and the castle served as a brief refuge during one of the most scandalous and politically explosive episodes of Mary's tragic reign. The castle was subsequently ordered demolished by the Scottish Parliament in 1567 following Bothwell's downfall, and much of its stone was used in the construction of the adjacent harbour — a fate common to many Scottish castles, whose masonry was gradually cannibalised for civic purposes. In person, the ruins convey a powerful sense of age and endurance against a relentlessly elemental setting. The surviving masonry is dark, almost black in places, made from the same volcanic basalt that forms the rocky shore beneath. Sea spray regularly wets the stones even on moderately calm days, and the constant sound of waves breaking against the rocks below gives the site an evocative, slightly melancholy atmosphere. Gulls wheel overhead, and the smell of salt and seaweed is omnipresent. The ruins are not large — there is no grand shell keep or circuit of walls to explore — but what remains is genuinely ancient and evocative, and the views from the promontory across the harbour and out towards the Firth of Forth are spectacular. The surrounding harbour of Dunbar is itself a place of considerable character. Dunbar is one of the oldest burghs in Scotland, and the old Victoria Harbour and the smaller Cromwell Harbour sit immediately adjacent to the castle ruins, with colourful fishing boats and pleasure craft lending a cheerful contrast to the sombre stonework. The wider town contains a good high street, the John Muir Birthplace Museum (Muir, the father of modern conservation and the man behind the creation of the United States national parks system, was born in Dunbar in 1838), and Lauderdale House, a fine civic building. The surrounding East Lothian landscape is fertile, gently rolling farmland backed by the Lammermuir Hills, and the coastline forms part of the John Muir Way, a long-distance walking route that passes directly through the town. Visiting the castle ruins requires no admission fee, as the remains are accessible from the harbour area and the adjacent public paths. The site is accessible year-round and at any hour, though the rocky ground requires reasonable care, particularly in wet conditions. Dunbar is well served by train from Edinburgh, with fast services on the East Coast Main Line taking approximately 30 minutes; the castle is then a short walk downhill from the railway station. Parking is available near the harbour. The ruins are most dramatic visited on a day of blustery weather when the North Sea is in full voice, though summer mornings offer the clearest views across the Firth to the Isle of May and the distant Fife coast. There are no facilities at the ruins themselves, but the harbour area has cafes and a small number of restaurants. One compelling and somewhat poignant footnote to the castle's story is that the very act of its demolition — ordered by the Scottish Parliament following the Mary-Bothwell scandal — effectively erased one of Scotland's greatest medieval fortresses from the landscape. The harbour walls that replaced it were built partly with the castle's own stone, meaning the castle in a sense survives, reborn into a working harbour that has served fishing and trading communities for over four centuries. This transformation from fortress to harbour infrastructure gives the site a layered historical resonance that rewards thoughtful reflection, and makes Dunbar Castle one of the more quietly fascinating of Scotland's many castle ruins.

Tantallon Castle is located 3 miles south-east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It is built in an imposing position on a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. Tantallon is a curtain wall castle with a single wall blocking off the headland, with the other three sides protected by sea cliffs. The ruin is now in the care of Historic Scotland. To the south-west, the massive 15m tall curtain wall blocks off the promontory forming an inner courtyard. The curtain wall has a tower at either end, and a heavily fortified tower gatehouse in the centre. There are several small chambers within the walls, and stairs accessing a parapet walk that connects the three towers. The northwest tower, known as the Douglas Tower, was circular and seven storeys high. The lowest storey was a pit prison. The East Tower is D-shaped and was originally five storeys high. The central gatehouse tower is square with four storeys of chambers. The main entrance ran through a passage below, protected by a drawbridge, three pairs of doors and a portcullis. There are two corner turrets, facing in toward the courtyard, where a 16th century spiral stair gives access to the head of the curtain wall. There is a north range of buildings running at right angles to the main curtain wall. The range is joined to the Douglas Tower of the main curtain wall. Alongside the curtain wall is a deep, rock-cut ditch. Tantallon Castle was built in the mid 14th century by William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas and remained in the Douglas family for most of its history. In 1397 George Douglas, Earl of Angus (of the Red Douglases) married Mary the daughter of King Robert III, allying with the Royal House of Stewart. In 1482, The 5th Earl of Angus (Archibald "Bell the cat") conspired against James IV. In 1491 Tantallon Castle was besieged by James IV, but the Douglases submitted and the castle did not suffer extensive damage. In 1525, the 6th Earl of Angus kidnapped the young King James V. In 1528, at age 16, King James V escaped and sent troops to attack Tantallon, which was besieged and bombarded with cannon for 20 days. The defensive ditch prevented the cannons being brought close enough to the walls to do serious damage. Angus fled to England, leaving the castle to James V. Tantallon was retained as a Royal fortress until James V died in 1542, when the Earl of Angus recovered it. In 1650, Oliver Cromwell's forces invaded Scotland and laid siege to Tantallon bombarding it with cannon until a breach was made in the Douglas Tower. The Douglases surrendered and Tantallon was left in ruins and was never repaired or inhabited afterwards. The Douglases finally sold Tantallon in 1699, but the castle decayed further. In 1924, the castle was handed over to the UK Government Office of Works and is now in the care of Historic Scotland. The Arts Sir Walter Scott described the castle in his 1808 poem Marmion.

Tantallon Castle on the East Lothian coast is one of the most dramatically positioned medieval fortifications in Scotland, a great curtain wall castle of the late fourteenth century built by the Douglas family on a promontory of red sandstone jutting into the Firth of Forth with the Bass Rock visible offshore. Historic Environment Scotland manages the castle, whose ruined but substantial remains provide some of the finest coastal views of any medieval castle in Scotland. The castle was built approximately 1350 for William Douglas, first Earl of Douglas, as the principal stronghold of the Black Douglas family. The massive curtain wall across the landward approach, rising to approximately fifteen metres and flanked by towers and a great twin-towered gatehouse, is one of the finest examples of curtain wall fortification in Scotland. The castle withstood several sieges before being finally reduced by Cromwellian artillery in 1651, and the marks of the bombardment can still be seen in the masonry. The combination of the great wall, the sea views, the Bass Rock offshore and the dramatic red sandstone cliffs dropping to the sea on three sides creates one of the most compelling castle visits in Scotland. The walk from the car park through the castle earthworks and out to the cliff edge provides views that place the fortress in its extraordinary coastal landscape context.