Dirleton Castle is a medieval fortress in the village of Dirleton, East Lothian, Scotland
Dirleton Castle is a medieval fortress in the village of Dirleton, East Lothian, Scotland. It lies around 2 miles (3.2 km) west of North Berwick, and around 19 miles (31 km) east of Edinburgh. The oldest parts of the castle date to the 13th century, and it was abandoned by the end of the 17th century.
Begun in around 1240 by John De Vaux, the castle was heavily damaged during the Wars of Scottish Independence, when it was twice taken by the English. In the 14th century, Dirleton was repaired by the Haliburton family, and it 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. Dirleton ceased to be a residence, although Oliver Cromwell was forced to besiege the castle to flush out a band of "mosstroopers" (marauders), during the Third English Civil War in 1650. The damaged castle was then acquired by John Nisbet, Lord Dirleton, who decided to build a new country house on the nearby Archerfield Estate. The Nisbet family of Dirleton continued to maintain the castle's gardens, before handing Dirleton into state care in 1923. The ruins and gardens are now maintained by Historic Scotland.
Dirleton Castle stands on a rocky outcrop, at the heart of the rich agricultural lands of the barony of Dirleton, and guards the coastal approach to Edinburgh from England, via the port of North Berwick. The ruins comprise a 13th-century keep, and a 16th-century house which the Ruthvens built adjacent. Only the basement levels survive of the 14th- and 15th-century additions built by the Haliburtons, although these comprised a large hall and tower house along the east range. Other buildings within the courtyard have also been demolished. Surrounding the castle are gardens, which may have been first laid out in the 16th century, although the present planting is largely of the 20th century. The garden walls enclose a 16th-century doocot, or pigeon house.
The Norman family of de Vaux originated in Rouen, northern France, and settled in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. Two de Vaux brothers, or cousins, were among a number of Anglo-Norman knights invited to Scotland, and granted land, by King David I of Scotland in the 12th century. Hubert de Vaux was given the barony of Gilsland in Cumbria, at that time part of Scotland, while John de Vaux was granted the barony of Dirleton. John built a castle at Eldbotle, probably to the north-west of modern Dirleton, and another, named Tarbet Castle, on the island of Fidra, although neither survives.
In 1220, Fidra was gifted to the monks of Dryburgh Abbey by William de Vaux. William's son, another John, had been held hostage in England as surety for the good conduct of King William the Lion in 1213, and succeeded to the barony in the 1220s. He then began the construction of a replacement for Tarbet at Dirleton, which was recorded as a "castellum" in 1225, although this may refer to an earlier timber structure. In 1239, de Vaux was appointed seneschal, or steward, to Marie de Coucy, on her marriage to King Alexander II. Marie de Coucy was the daughter of Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy (d.1242), builder of the Château de Coucy, in Picardy (c.1220s), which probably served as a model for Dirleton. The 13th-century stone castle, of which only the donjon, or keep, remains, represented a show of de Vaux's status, and would have required peaceful times to permit a prolonged construction project.
Peaceful times ended in 1296, with the outbreak of the Wars of Scottish Independence. Dirleton, which guarded the route between Edinburgh and the English border, changed hands several times through the invasions of the English under King Edward I. During the campaign of summer 1298, the castle was besieged by English forces under Antony Bek, the Bishop of Durham. Dirleton withstood the assault for several months, until the English victory at Falkirk allowed them to bring up large siege engines, after which the castle was soon reduced. Dirleton was garrisoned by the English, but must have been retaken by the Scots before 1306, when the English commander Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke recaptured Dirleton once more. It was finally retaken by the Scots some time before 1314, and was slighted, or deliberately damaged, to prevent its reuse by the English.
Haliburton
The castle and lands of Dirleton passed to the Berwickshire family of Haliburton (or Halyburton) when John Haliburton (d.1355) married the heiress of the de Vaux family, shortly before 1350. The castle had been repaired by 1363, when it was seized by William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, during his brief rebellion against King David II, although it was later returned to the Haliburtons. In the 1420s, Sir Walter Haliburton (d. before 1447) acted as a hostage in exchange for the release of King James I, who had been held captive by the English since 1406. He was rewarded in 1439 by being appointed Treasurer of Scotland. Either Walter, or his eldest son John (d. before 1454), was ennobled as a Lord of Parliament in the 1440s, with the title Lord Dirletoun. The Haliburtons carried out extensive works at Dirleton, heightening the original towers, and constructing a new gatehouse to the south-east. A large hall and tower house were added to the castle in the 15th century, forming the east range. King James IV visited Dirleton in 1505, and gave money to the masons then engaged on works in the north-east part of the castle. Later that year, Patrick, the last Haliburton of Dirleton, died, and his estates were divided among his three daughters, Janet, Margaret, and Mariotta.
Ruthven
The eldest daughter, Janet, married William Ruthven, 2nd Lord Ruthven (d. 1552) in 1515, and the castle and lordship of Dirleton passed to the Ruthven family. The son of William and Janet, Patrick, 3rd Lord Ruthven (c. 1520–1566), was one of the leaders of the group who murdered David Riccio, private secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1566. Patrick was forced to flee to England, where he died, leaving Dirleton to his son William (c. 1541–1584), who was created Earl of Gowrie in 1581. Lord Gowrie led a plot, later known as the Raid of Ruthven, in which the 16-year-old King James VI was seized, in August 1582. Ruthven then ruled in the king's name, while James was held captive. Although Gowrie was pardoned the following year, he was executed in 1584 for his part in another plot to seize Stirling Castle, and his lands were forfeited to the crown. A keen amateur arboriculturalist, Lord Gowrie is thought to have laid out the gardens at Dirleton, and planted numerous trees.
James VI granted Dirleton to the Earl of Arran, who entertained the King there in 1585. The following year, the castle was restored to Lady Dorothea, widow of the first Earl, and by 1600 had passed to John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie (c. 1577–1600), their second son.
Dirleton played a role in the story of the “Gowrie Conspiracy” of 1600 in that there has long been suspicion that the castle was taken from the Ruthvens and given to Thomas Erskine as a reward for assisting James VI in the murder of Patrick Ruthven’s sons: John, 3rd Earl of Gowrie, and his brother Alexander. The official narrative of the Gowrie Conspiracy, provided afterwards by the king, was that he and fifteen retainers, Erskine among them, had arrived at Gowrie House one night in August 1600 because he had been invited there by Alexander. However, as the narrative goes, the two brothers attempted to assassinate James, and in the melee that followed, the two Ruthvens were killed. While this was happening at Gowrie House, the other two Ruthven brothers, William and Patrick, were at Dirleton, apparently unaware of the plot afoot. Finding much to doubt in the king’s account, many have argued that James went to Gowrie House with his retinue for the express purpose of murdering John and Alexander, partly because the king owed the Earl of Gowrie a large sum of money and partly because there had long been a rumor that Gowrie was the grandson of James IV, which, if true, would have put him in line for the throne ahead of James VI. After the killings, the king divided the Gowrie estates and bestowed them on the men who had been with him that night. Erskine received the gift of Dirleton Castle, which some perceive to be a form of “blood money.” This perception is further substantiated by the fact that Erskine was created Baron Erskine of Dirletowne in 1604.
Erskine sold the castle to Sir James Douglas in 1625. Douglas sold it on to Alexander Morieson of Prestongrange, who sold it in turn, in 1631, to James Maxwell of Innerwick (d. c. 1650), who was created Earl of Dirletoun in 1646.
Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell's army invaded Scotland in 1650, during the Third English Civil War, and defeated the Scots Royalists at Dunbar on 3 September. With this victory, Cromwell gained effective control of southern Scotland, but bands of Royalist moss-troopers continued to harry the English supply lines. One such band was based at Dirleton, and Cromwell ordered General Monck and General Lambert, with 1,600 troops, to capture the castle. This was achieved on 10 November, using mortars to destroy the drawbridge and inner gate. The captain of the moss-troopers was hanged from the walls with two of his comrades. The castle was slighted once more, and although briefly used as a field hospital, it was then left to decay. The soldier and engineer responsible for Cromwell's effective use of artillery was a German, Major Joachim Hane. He also designed fortresses near Inverness and in Ayr, and directed the mortar fire at the siege of Stirling Castle in August 1651. He later spent a year spying for Cromwell's Secretary of State, John Thurloe.
Nisbet
Dirleton Castle and estate were purchased, from the widowed Countess of Dirletoun, by the lawyer John Nisbet (c. 1609–1687) in 1663. Nisbet, who took the title Lord Dirleton when he was appointed as a judge, built a new house at Archerfield, to the north-west of the village. The Nisbets continued to maintain the gardens around the castle as part of the park around Archerfield, and installed the bowling green. The 19th-century garden walls were added by Mary Nisbet, Lady Elgin (1778–1855), wife of the Earl of Elgin, as part of a "beautification" of Dirleton village. In the mid-19th century, two new parterres were laid out by the head gardener, David Thompson. Although neither survived, the west garden was restored, based on 19th-century plans, in 1993. The north garden was replaced in the 1920s with an Arts and Crafts-style garden of herbaceous borders. Also in the 1920s, the castle was passed into state care, and is now maintained by Historic Scotland, an agency of the Scottish Government.
The castle and grounds are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, while the gardens appear on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national register of historic gardens. The castle, doocot, and boundary walls are Category A listed buildings, the highest level of protection for a historic building in Scotland.
- Adult: £6.00
- Concession: £4.80
Child (aged 5–15): £3.60
Children under <5> FREE
Member/Explorer Pass holder: FREE