Melville Castle is a three-storey Gothic castellated mansion situated less than a mile (2 km) west-south-west of Dalkeith, Midlothian, near the North Esk.

An earlier tower house on the site was demolished when the present structure, designed in 1786–91 by James Playfair for Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, was built.

The original tower house was owned by the Melville family, before passing to Sir John Ross in the 14th century. It subsequently changed hands with the attached lands several times and was sold to David Rennie in 1705. It then passed via the marriage of his daughter to Henry Dundas.

The Castle was owned by the Dundas family until after the World War II, when the Ninth Lord Melville moved to a smaller house on the Estate and the Castle was leased as an army rehabilitation center and then later as a hotel. By the early 1980s, the hotel fell into disrepair and was unoccupied. In the late 1980s, the Estate and the adjoining farms were sold, but remained closed.

In 1993, the castle was bought by the Hay Trust, which extensively restored the property over 8 years. The castle was reopened as a hotel in June 2003, leased by Aurora Hotels. Their lease expired in January 2012. Today it still operates as a hotel and venue for weddings and continues ownership by the Hay Trust.

Melville Castle

Account

by category

Login

Name

by region

Title

Name in English

Dalkeith Palace in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, is a historic house and the former seat of the Duke of Buccleuch. The present house was built in 1702 on the site of an earlier castle.

Dalkeith Castle was located to the north east of Dalkeith, and was originally in the hands of the Clan Graham in the 12th century and given to the Clan Douglas in the early 14th century. James Douglas of Dalkeith became the Earl of Morton in the mid 15th century. The castle was strategically located in an easily defensible position above a bend in the River North Esk. Nearer the centre of Dalkeith, James Douglas, 1st Lord Dalkeith, endowed the collegiate church in 1406, where Douglas earls, lords, and knights were buried.

Margaret Tudor, the bride of King James IV of Scots, stayed here as the guest of the Earl of Morton before her formal entry to Edinburgh in 1503. In 1543, David, Cardinal Beaton, the Archbishop of St Andrews, was imprisoned in Dalkeith Castle. The castle was captured during the war of the Rough Wooing by the English soldiers James Wilford and Thomas Wyndham on 3 June 1548.

From June 1574, Regent Morton, who had been captured at the siege of 1548, extended the castle and palace. Its appearance was recorded in an engraving c.1690 by John Slezer. When James VI of Scotland reached his majority in October 1579, following celebrations in Edinburgh, Morton entertained the young King at Dalkeith Palace.

The building is called a palace in part because Dalkeith Castle was the 'caput', the 'head' or place where the courts of the Regality of Dalkeith were held. According to the heraldic writer Alexander Nisbet, the caput of a regality was technically termed a 'palatium', as a seat of royal authority.

In 1642, Dalkeith Castle was sold by the Douglas family to Francis Scott, 2nd Earl of Buccleuch.

The 2nd Earl of Buccleuch's daughter married the Duke of Monmouth, eldest illegitimate son of King Charles II. They became the Duke and Duchess of Monmouth & Buccleuch. After the Duke of Monmouth had been executed for treason, Anne Scott, his widow, who held the Scottish title in her own right, asked architect James Smith to use William of Orange's Palace of Het Loo in the Netherlands as a model for the new Dalkeith Palace.

Smith and his cousins, Gilbert and James, signed the contract for mason work at Dalkeith Castle in March 1702. Construction of Dalkeith Palace began later that year, Smith deciding to incorporate a portion of the tower house of the old castle into the western side of the new structure. The outline of the old tower walls is still visible in the western facade of the palace today.

In 1704, William Walker and Benjamin Robinson, the chamberlain of the Duchess, went to London with a small party to choose items of furniture for the palace. Construction was proceeding at a steady pace, and the main portion of the palace was roofed by the end of 1705. The London marble-cutter Richard Neale spent sixty-four weeks at the palace with nine assistants between 1709 and 1711, carving the main stairwell and screen of the Great Staircase. Several marble chimney pieces were installed, as well as an intricately carved marble bas-relief of Neptune and Galatea. This internally extensive use of marble was very much the taste of the Duchess. The majority of construction was complete by 1711.

Finishing touches on the Palace complex included adding a wrought iron screen with freestone piers (no longer existing) around the forecourt, a great deal of planting, and the laying out of a great avenue through the park. Dalkeith Park itself was a large area of manicured trees and gardens which in later years would include the Montagu Bridge over the North Esk River and the Dalkeith Conservatory and a grassed amphitheatre. When the final calculations were made, it was determined that the construction of Dalkeith Palace had cost the Duchess a total of Stg£17,727.

The plumber John Scott of Edinburgh re-plated the roof in lead in 1743. Some minor additions were carried out in the following years. John Adam resurfaced the building in 1762 and James Playfair inserted a low window into the east facade in 1786.

Overall, the Palace is built of sandstone and has the main entrance on the south front, flanked on each side by two Corinthian order pilasters. These are surmounted by a bracketed pediment unusual for its depth. The layout of Dalkeith Palace was unusual for the time in that the state apartment was located on the ground floor, which prevented the Great Dining Room from being placed in its customary position at the start of the state apartment. As such, the Great Dining Room was placed on the first floor, still suitable for important occasions and also serving as an anteroom to another apartment on the first floor.



Dalkeith Palace

Newbattle Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which has subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution.

Monastery
It was founded in 1140 by monks from Melrose Abbey. The patron was King David I of Scotland (with his son Henry). Its church was dedicated in 1234. The abbey was burned by English royal forces in 1385 and once more in 1544. It became a secular lordship for the last commendator, Mark Kerr (Ker) in 1587.

Newbattle Abbey was a filiation of Melrose Abbey (itself a daughter of Rievaulx Abbey) and was situated, according to Cistercian usages, in a beautiful valley along the River South Esk. Rudolph, its first abbot, a strict and severe observer of the rule, devoted himself energetically to the erection of proper buildings. The church, cruciform in shape, was two hundred and forty feet in length, and the other buildings in proportion; for the community numbered at one period as many as eighty monks and seventy lay-brothers.

The abbey soon became prosperous, and famous for the regularity of its members, several of whom became well-known bishops. It was especially dear to the kings of Scotland, scarcely one of whom failed to visit it from time to time, and they were always its generous benefactors.

One of the principal sources of income was the coal mines in its possession, for these monks were among the first, if not the first, coal miners in Scotland. The earliest mention of coal in Scotland is to be found in a charter of an Earl of Winchester, granting to them a coal mine. In 1526 King James V granted them a petition to build a harbour at Morrison's Haven, and it is from this date that Aitchison's Haven Lodge was established as a stonemasons lodge. In 1531, the Abbot of Newbattle agreed with the Abbot of Dunfermline to work his coalmine at Prestongrange so that it would drain water from the neighboring mines which belonged to Dunfermline Abbey to the sea.

Newbattle suffered much from English incursions at various times, particularly in 1385, when the monastery and church were burned, and the religious either carried away, or forced to flee to other monasteries; it required forty years to repair these losses. A part of the monastery was again destroyed by the Earl of Hertford, but the destruction seems to have been chiefly confined to the church.

At the time of the Reformation but few of the monks remained, and these were pensioned by the commendator, Mark Kerr. Kerr made a timely conversion to Protestantism and was able to retain the lands around the abbey. His son, also Mark, became Lord Newbattle in 1596 and Earl of Lothian in 1606.

The monastery site, including burial grounds, traces of the chapel and cloisters and some associated buildings is now a designated scheduled monument.

Stately Home
Part of the abbey was converted into a house which survives at the core of the current building. The house incorporates part of the south end of the monastic range, with the dorter undercroft intact.

The house was modified and rebuilt successively by John Mylne in 1650, William Burn in 1836 and David Bryce in 1858. The drawing room represents one of Scotland's greatest rooms, decorated by Thomas Bonnar around 1870. The 19th century Chapel was created in a vaulted undercroft that may date from the original abbey buildings. The chapel includes a 16th-century font and a fine parquet floor, made using wood from the estate in the style of original tile-work. The library is oak-lined and features a 17th-century moulded ceiling. The garden to the rear of the house includes a pair of large octagonal 17th century sundials. The main abbey remains lie buried to the west and north of the original house.

King George IV visited during his Scottish tour of 1822 and the King's Gate was built in his honour.

College
Newbattle Abbey remained the home of the Marquesses of Lothian until being given to the nation in 1937 by Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, to be used as a College of Education.

The College was established under trustees from the four ancient Scottish Universities specifically for adults returning to education. New residential building was added in the 1960s and funding came through the Scottish Education Department.

In 1987 the Secretary of State for Scotland announced the intention to withdraw funding, threatening the college with closure. However, new forms of financial support have enabled the College to survive.

Newbattle Abbey

Balhousie Castle, located in Perth, Scotland (on Hay Street, originally a few hundred metres north of the medieval town), dates to 1631, though its origins are believed to go back a further three hundred years. It originally served as the seat of the Earls of Kinnoull, and stood within a walled enclosure containing subsidiary buildings, orchards etc., on a terrace overlooking the North Inch.

After falling into neglect in the early 19th century, the Castle was 'restored' (in fact, virtually rebuilt), and extensively remodelled on a larger scale in 1862-63 in the Baronial style by the architect David Smart. No original features survive except for parts of the original rubble walls on the east side.

In 1962, the Castle became the Regimental Headquarters and Museum of The Black Watch. The latter displays the history of the regiment from 1739 to the present. The Black Watch Heritage Appeal was launched in September 2009 to raise in excess of £3.2 million to develop Balhousie Castle to provide a permanent home for the museum and archive of The Black Watch. The Regimental Trustees bought Balhousie Castle in January 2009.

Balhousie Castle

Dalhousie Castle is a castle in Cockpen parish, Midlothian, Scotland. Dalhousie Castle is situated near the town of Bonnyrigg, 8 miles (13 km) south of Edinburgh. The castle was the seat of the Earls of Dalhousie, the chieftains of Clan Ramsay.

The patriarch of the clan was Simundus de Ramesie (Simon of Ramsey), an English knight of Norman descent from the Huntingdonshire village of Ramsey. Simundus, a vassal of David, Earl of Huntingdon, followed his lord to Scotland in about 1140 when David inherited the Scottish crown. He is considered the founder of the Ramsay clan and the first to have lands at Dalwolsey.

The first castle at Dalhousie was constructed by him. The red stone castle is situated in a strategic spot overlooking the River Esk. The drum tower, the oldest part of the current structure, an L Plan Castle dates to the mid 15th century. The majority of the current castle dates to the 17th century. There was originally a dry moat surrounding the castle. The moat was later filled in but partially excavated in the late 20th century.

Dalhousie Castle has seen much history. King Edward I (Longshanks) stayed at the castle on his way to meet Sir William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk. In 1400, Sir Alexander Ramsay withstood a six-month siege at Dalhousie by English forces led by King Henry IV. Oliver Cromwell used the castle as a base for his invasion of Scotland. Many Earls of Dalhousie have taken an active part in British political and military leadership.

Around 1800, Walter Nicol designed the new layout of the walled garden.

At the turn of the 20th century, the seat of Clan Ramsay was moved to Brechin Castle, although the Ramsay family continued to retain ownership of the castle until 1977. At the time of the sale, Dalhousie had been in the same family for more than eight centuries, longer than any other castle in Scotland. Throughout the 20th century, the castle was leased out to a series of tenants including a boarding school. In 1972 the castle was converted into a hotel. In 2003 Dalhousie Castle was purchased by the Von Essen Hotels company for a reported price of £10 million.

On 26 June 2004, a major fire erupted in the castle's roof area. The building was evacuated and the Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade were called to extinguish the blaze. The damage was significant but limited to a relatively small area of the building and no major structural damage occurred. The damage was repaired and the hotel resumed normal operations.

In April 2011 Von Essen Hotels fell into administration and the hotel was available with a guide price of £7.5 million. In March 2012 it was announced that Robert Parker, owner of Doxford, Eshott and Guyzance Hall in Northumberland had purchased Dalhousie Castle for an undisclosed sum.

Dalhousie Castle

Hawthornden Castle is located on the River North Esk in Midlothian, Scotland. The castle lies a mile to the east of Roslin at grid reference NT287637, and is just downstream from Roslin Castle. Hawthornden comprises a 15th-century ruin, with a 17th-century L-plan house attached. The house has been restored and now serves as a writer's retreat. Man-made caves in the rock beneath the castle have been in use for much longer than the castle itself.

Hawthornden was a property of the Abernethy family from the 13th century, and passed to the Douglases in the 14th century. The earliest parts of the castle date from the 15th century, and include a large three-storey tower, and the south curtain wall of a triangular courtyard. The castle was sacked twice by the Earl of Hertford in 1544 and 1547 during The Rough Wooing.

In the 16th century, the castle was sold to Sir John Drummond, one of King James VI's ushers. His son, the poet Sir William Drummond of Hawthornden, was born here, and later extended the castle. The L-shaped north range is his work, dated 1638, and probably replaced earlier buildings on this side of the courtyard. He was visited here in 1618 by English poet Ben Jonson, and the following century Dr Johnson also visited Hawthornden.

This house has been much altered, including a major modernisation of the mid-19th century. The arms of the Abernethy family were installed above a door in 1795, by Dr William Abernethy Drummond, Bishop of Edinburgh. The bishop also added a memorial in honour of his ancestors Sir William Drummond and Sir Lawrence Abernethy of Hawthornden.

Hawthornden Castle was owned by the Drummonds until the early 1970s. It was left to the butler when the last Drummond died, then sold to Douglas Adamson, a well known and respected fine art and antiques dealer from Edinburgh, and his family, who turned it back into a home. The house was also open to the public. The Adamson family lived there until the mid-1980s when Douglas Adamson died.

The Castle was then sold to Drue Heinz, the widow of H. J. Heinz II. Architects Simpson and Brown undertook a restoration of the castle in the 1980s. Heinz, a patron of the arts, made it into a place for writers to peacefully live and work, called the Hawthornden Literary Retreat. Recent restoration work has used reclaimed stone available from the demolished Caledonian Railway station in Edinburgh.

The castle is a Category A listed building, and the castle and caves together are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Architecture
The castle comprises a roughly triangular courtyard, approximately 24m long and 12m at its widest point, projecting north-west along a rocky promontory on the south bank of the River Esk. The 15th-century tower is situated at the south-east corner. Around 8m square, the tower is ruined, although the recent renovation included the installation of a library in the tower basement. There is also a rib-vaulted pit prison beneath the tower. Windows on the south curtain wall show that a range of buildings once stood here, although these are now all gone. A well in the west end of the courtyard supplied the castle's water.

The 16th century range is to the north, and is linked to the tower by a 16th-century wall, in which is the entrance. The range is of three storeys and an attic, and was originally harled. The renaissance-style doorway is of later date, as is the iron knocker with the initials of Sir William Drummond (the son of the poet) and his wife, Dame Barbara Scott. There are three gunports around the doorway, with a fourth in the tower. The last addition to the castle was a single-storey range to the west, built in the late 18th or early 19th century.

Caves
There are a number of man-made caves in the cliffs beneath the castle. One cave serves as a doocot, with 370 compartments. There is a tradition that King Robert the Bruce and Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie once found shelter in the caves underneath it.

Another cave nearby is known as Wallace's Cave, after William Wallace.

Hawthornden Castle

Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is three miles (4.8 km) south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. The Preston family of Craigmillar, the local feudal barons, began building the castle in the late 14th century and building works continued through the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1660 the castle was sold to Sir John Gilmour, Lord President of the Court of Session, who made further alterations. The Gilmours left Craigmillar in the 18th century, and the castle fell into ruin. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.

Craigmillar Castle is best known for its association with Mary, Queen of Scots. Following an illness after the birth of her son, the future James VI, Mary arrived at Craigmillar on 20 November 1566 to convalesce. Before she left on 7 December 1566, a pact known as the "Craigmillar Bond" was made, with or without her knowledge, to dispose of her husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

Craigmillar is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Scotland. The central tower house, or keep, is surrounded by a 15th-century courtyard wall with "particularly fine" defensive features. Within this are additional ranges, and the whole is enclosed by an outer courtyard wall containing a chapel and a doocot.

Origins
The lands of Craigmillar were granted to the monks of Dunfermline Abbey by King David I in the 12th century. The Preston family were first granted land in the area by King David II in 1342 and held 2/3 of the estate. In a further grant of 1374, King Robert II gave the remaining lands of Craigmillar to Sir Simon de Preston, Sheriff of Midlothian. It was Simon's son, Simon Preston, or his grandson, Sir George Preston, who began work on the tower house which now forms the core of the castle. This was in place by 1425, when a charter was sealed at Craigmillar by Sir John Preston. The courtyard wall was probably added by Sir William Preston (d. 1453), who had travelled in France, and drew on continental inspiration for his new work. He also brought back the arm of Saint Giles, which he presented to the High Kirk of Edinburgh, where the Preston Aisle is named for him. In the late 1470s, John Stewart, Earl of Mar, brother of King James III was held prisoner at Craigmillar, accused of practising witchcraft against the King. He later died in suspicious circumstances.

16th century
In 1511 Craigmillar was erected into a barony, and the outer courtyard was built around this time, possibly by another Simon Preston (d.1520), Member of Parliament for Edinburgh in 1487, who had succeeded in 1478. In September 1517, during an outbreak of plague in Edinburgh, the infant James V of Scotland moved to safety at Craigmillar. His French guardian De la Bastie had new locks made for his chamber and the two iron gates, and a stable was built for the king's mule. The family chapel within the outer court was first recorded in 1523. In 1544, during the so-called Rough Wooing of Henry VIII of England, the English attempted to impose, by military force, a marriage alliance between Edward, Prince of Wales, and the young Mary, Queen of Scots. Craigmillar Castle was burned by English troops under the Earl of Hertford. The baron, Sir Simon Preston (d.1569) had the castle repaired, with domestic ranges in the courtyard being remodelled. Sir Simon served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh for several years, and was a loyal supporter of Queen Mary, who appointed him to her Privy Council.

Queen Mary stayed at Craigmillar twice, in September 1563 and from 20 November to 7 December 1566. She is traditionally said to have slept in the small former kitchen within the tower house, although it is more likely that she occupied larger accommodation in the relatively new east range. On her second stay, Mary was still in poor health following a serious illness in October. Several of her noblemen were with her, and suggested to her that her unpopular husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, could be removed, either by divorce or by other means. An agreement, the "Craigmillar Bond", was signed by Mary's Secretary of State William Maitland of Lethington, and several nobles including the earls of Bothwell, Argyll and Huntly. The bond does not survive, but set out the conspirator's intent to remove Darnley. Although Mary made it clear that she was unhappy with Darnley, she was not part of the conspiracy, and was probably unaware of the plot to kill her husband. It was initially intended that Darnley would lodge at Craigmillar when he returned to Edinburgh, although he opted to stay at Kirk o' Field in the town, where he was murdered on 10 February 1567. In 1572, after Queen Mary's flight into England, the Regent Mar used Craigmillar as a base during his siege of Edinburgh Castle, which was being held by supporters of the exiled Queen. King James VI later visited Craigmillar himself, in 1589, when he was the guest of Sir David Preston.

On the death of Sir Robert Preston in 1639, Craigmillar passed to a distant cousin, David Preston of Whitehill. His son sold the castle out of the family, and it was bought by Sir John Gilmour (d.1671) in 1660, who purchased the neighbouring estate of The Inch at the same time. A Royalist, Gilmour was rewarded following the Restoration of King Charles II, becoming Lord President of the Court of Session in 1661. He remodelled the west range to provide more modern accommodation in the 1660s, but in the early 18th century, the Gilmours left the castle for Inch House, just west of Craigmillar. It was claimed that two of the laird's daughters continued to live in Craigmillar Castle after the rest of the family had left. Afterwards, Craigmillar Castle formed a romantic feature in the park of the Inch estate. It was ruined by 1775, when the antiquarian and poet John Pinkerton wrote Craigmillar Castle: an Elegy. The castle became a popular tourist attraction from the late 18th century, and was drawn by numerous artists. A proposal to renovate the building for the use of Queen Victoria was put forward in 1842, but came to nothing. Victoria herself visited the castle in 1886, and much restoration work was undertaken by its then owner, Walter James Little Gilmour (d.1887).

Craigmillar Castle has been in state care since 1946, and is now maintained by Historic Environment Scotland. The castle is a category A listed building, the highest level of protection for a historic building in Scotland, and is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The grounds of the castle are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, the national register of historic gardens.

At the core of Craigmillar Castle is the 14th-century L-plan tower house, built on a rocky outcrop. Wrapped around this is the 15th-century courtyard wall, with ranges of buildings at the south-east, east, and west. Beyond the wall is a lower outer wall, enclosing a broad outer courtyard. This contained gardens and a chapel. Further gardens lay to the south, where the outline of a fish pond can be seen.

The tower house
The four-storey tower forms the keep of the castle, although it originally stood alone. It measures 15.8 metres (52 ft) by 11.6 metres (38 ft), with a projecting wing, or jamb, of 8.5 metres (28 ft) by 3.5 metres (11 ft), to the south. The walls are up to 3.3 metres (11 ft) thick, and the second and fourth storeys have vaulted ceilings. The tower is built on the edge of a rock outcrop, with the original entrance door protected by a natural cleft in the rock. This would have been spanned by a wooden bridge, until it was filled in when the curtain wall was built.]Above the door are the arms of the Preston family. A stair leads up from the entrance to a guard room in the jamb, which would probably have had "murder holes" through which missiles could be dropped on any attackers who gained entry. At ground floor level are cellars, which formerly had a timber loft above. The dividing wall and doors at either end are later additions.

On the second floor is the hall, with a kitchen occupying the jamb, and later passages connecting to the east and west ranges. The hall has a large carved stone fireplace of around 1500, and once had a timber ceiling, probably painted. The kitchen was replaced by a larger one in the 16th-century east range, and converted into a bedroom. A smaller fireplace was inserted into the large kitchen hearth, and larger windows added. The next storey, accessed via a spiral stair, contained a windowless room in the vault above the hall ceiling. Above the kitchen is the lord's bedroom, the only original private chamber in the building. The stairs continue to give access to parapet walks around the stone-flagged roof. A further storey was added to the jamb in the sixteenth century, containing a single chamber. The exterior of the castle formerly had two timber balconies, or viewing platforms, one overlooking the gardens to the south, and one looking east across the Lothian countryside.

The inner courtyard
The mid-15th-century curtain wall encloses a courtyard around 10 metres (33 ft) across, and is up to 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) thick. Externally, the curtain wall measures 40 metres (130 ft) by 27 metres (89 ft). Round towers are located at each corner, with a postern, or side gate, located in the base of the south-east tower. The towers have keyhole-shaped gun holes, intended for decoration as well as defence. The round-arched gate is in the north wall. Over it are the arms of the Preston family, with the royal arms of Scotland above. The walls are defended by machicolations, spaces through which missiles could be dropped on attackers, and battlement walks give access to the entire length of the wall. On the inside of the wall, traces of windows suggest that there was once a south range of buildings in the courtyard. There is no well in the courtyard, but a stone trough runs through the curtain wall, allowing water to be brought into the castle.

The east range
The east range occupies the south-east and east sides of the inner courtyard. The original east range, contemporary with the courtyard wall, was rebuilt in the 16th century and linked to the tower house by a new, broad spiral stair.The building at the south-east adjoins the tower house, and comprises two chambers on the first floor. Cellars below were occupied by a bakehouse and a possible prison. A corridor connects the tower to large, vaulted kitchens in the east range, also accessible via a straight stair from the courtyard. Another depiction of the Preston family arms, supported by monkeys, appears above the door to the east range. Below the kitchens are vaulted cellars, containing a blocked-up postern gate through the courtyard wall. Above, a long gallery occupied the second floor, although only the lower walls of the gallery survive.

The west range
The west range was entirely rebuilt by the Gilmours, in the 1660s, to provide a spacious suite of modern accommodation, to suit Sir John's position as a senior judge. The ground floor contained a large central drawing room dining room, with large windows, and a carved stone fireplace. This room would also have had plaster ceilings and other decorative features. To the north was a kitchen, and to the south a chamber, with a wine cellar below. The first floor had four bedrooms. Another new stair was built, connecting the west range with the tower house. The door to this tower has a classical pediment, above which is a 20th-century plaque, erected by a descendant of the Gilmours, and bearing the arms of Sir John Gilmour and his wife. The west range is now roofless, the internal floor is also gone, and the large windows have been blocked up.

The outer court and gardens
The outer walls, dating from the early-mid 16th century, are smaller and less formidable than the inner walls, but they enclose a much larger area. A round tower at the north-east corner has gun holes and a doocot, or pigeon house, upstairs.The family chapel was built around 1520, and dedicated to St Thomas Becket. It is now a roofless burial aisle, still used by the Gilmour family. Gardens occupied the east and west parts of the courtyard, with the western terrace overlooked by the large windows of the west range. The barn at the north-west of the courtyard was converted into a Presbyterian church, for the village of Liberton, in 1687. South of the castle were informal gardens and orchards, with the bases of 16th-century viewing towers remaining at the corners of this drystone-walled enclosure. The former fish pond, shaped like a letter P for Preston, is a nationally significant archaeological garden feature, due to its rarity. In the 1820s, a plan was drawn up to lay out picturesque landscape gardens between Inch House and the castle, which would have incorporated "Queen Mary's Tree", a Sycamore supposedly planted by Mary, Queen of Scots. Much of the woodland within the castle estate dates from the early to mid 19th century.

Craigmillar Castle

Roslin Castle (sometimes spelt Rosslyn) is a partially ruined castle near the village of Roslin in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located around 9 miles south of Edinburgh, on the north bank of the North Esk, only a few hundred metres from the famous Rosslyn Chapel.

There has been a castle on the site since the early 14th century, when the Sinclair family, Earls of Caithness and Barons of Roslin, fortified the site, although the present ruins are of slightly later date. Following destruction during the War of the Rough Wooing of 1544, the castle was rebuilt. This structure, built into the cliffs of Roslin Glen, has remained at least partially habitable ever since. The castle is accessed via a high bridge, which replaced an earlier drawbridge. Roslin was renovated in the 1980s and now serves as holiday accommodation.

The first castle was built in either the late 14th or in early 15th century, perhaps begun by Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, Baron of Roslin (c. 1345–1400). The Sinclair, or St Clare, family were of French origin, and have held Roslin since 1280. The castle was built on a rocky promontory near the site of the Battle of Roslin, where the Scots defeated the English in 1303. Henry's son Henry, 2nd Earl of Orkney (c. 1375-1422) built a new rectangular, round-cornered keep at the south-west corner. The courtyard was entered via a drawbridge over an artificial ditch, giving access to a pend in the small north range.

The castle contained a scriptorium during the 15th century, and five St Clair manuscripts, dating back to 1488, are in the National Library of Scotland. These include the Rosslyn-Hay manuscript, believed to be the earliest extant work in Scots prose. The castle was damaged by a domestic fire in 1452. Legend has it that during the domestic fire the Earl was in consternation because of his valuable manuscripts but they were lowered to safety from a window by his chaplain.

Roslin was more severely damaged by the Earl of Hertford, who burned the castle during the War of the Rough Wooing in 1544. The keep was almost totally destroyed, although its one remaining ruined wall can still be seen.

The castle was rebuilt in the late 16th century. A new five-storey east range was built into the side of the rock, and the gatehouse was rebuilt, this time with a permanent stone bridge. The upper part of the east range was renovated in 1622, with renaissance details and carving to door and window surrounds. Roslin suffered again from the artillery of Cromwell’s commander in Scotland, General Monck, in 1650. It was further damaged by a Reforming mob in 1688. By the 18th century the structure was dilapidated, though part of the east range has always remained habitable.

James Erskine inherited the Rosslyn and Dysart estates in 1789, from his cousin James Paterson St Clair, upon which he adopted the surname of St Clair-Erskine. In 1805, he inherited the title of Earl of Rosslyn (created 1801 for Alexander Wedderburn); since that date, the Rosslyn estate has been in possession of the Earl of Rosslyn.

From 1982 to 1988 the east range was restored by architects Simpson and Brown. The current owner, the Earl of Rosslyn, a descendant of the Sinclairs, leases the castle as holiday accommodation via the Landmark Trust. The castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and a Category A listed building.

Architecture
The castle stands precipitously above a loop of the River North Esk, which protects it on three sides. This rocky promontory was breached on the north side to form a ditch giving further protection. The castle is approached from Roslin across this ditch, via a precipitous bridge and through the ruined gatehouse.

Ruins
The remains of the gatehouse and north range comprise only fragments of walls and one side of the entrance arch, with the remains of a bartizan above. Along the west side of the castle, the 15th-century curtain wall remains standing to a considerable height. This section of wall has six openings at the base, one of which served as a postern gate. On the outer face, the six bays are divided by rounded buttresses. Old sketches of Roslin show bartizans above each of these buttresses, with a wall-walk connecting them.

To the south of this wall is the remaining wall of the keep. The mound beneath is formed from the collapsed remnants of the other three walls. The ruin suggests that the keep was around 16m by 12m, with walls 2.9m thick rising to a machicolated parapet.

East range
The restored east range measures around 31m by 10m, with a pitched roof and crow-step gables. It is entered through a richly carved doorway, dated 1622 and initialled SWS for Sir William Sinclair, which gives access to the third floor. The three lower floors are cut into the rock, and each has four vaulted rooms, with a fifth in the south-east tower. These lower levels were used for service rooms, with the principal rooms in the two upper floors. At the lowest level was a kitchen, with a bakehouse above. On the exterior, gunloops are found on the south wall, with several shot-holes on the east.

All five floors are connected by a central scale-and-platt staircase, added in the early 17th century to replace a turnpike stair in the south-west. The rooms of the upper floors have impressive panelling and decorated ceilings. The main hall, in the south part of the block, has been divided, but retains a large fireplace with the carved initials WS and JE, for William Sinclair and his wife Jean Edmonstone, and the date 1597.

Cultural references
Roslin Castle is one of the places featuring in Sir Walter Scott's poem Rosabelle. A ballad named Roslin Castle was written in the 18th century by Richard Hewitt of Cumberland, the lyrics and music of which are recorded in volume one of the Scots Musical Museum collection of Scottish songs. The castle was also used as a location for Ron Howard's film adaptation of Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code.

Roslin Castle

Carberry Tower is an historic house in East Lothian, Scotland. The house is situated off the A6124 road, 2 miles (3.2 km) south-east of Musselburgh. Carberry, like Musselburgh is in the parish of Inveresk. The property was operational as a hotel and events venue, and it was owned by Clarenco LLP, trading under the brand of AmaZing Venues. Carberry Tower was then sold privately and is now trading under Kingsland Estate. It is protected as a Category B listed building.

The lands on which Carberry Tower stands were first mentioned in the 11th century when King David I of Scotland granted "Caerbairin" (Carberry) to the monks of Dunfermline Abbey. The first landowner or lessee was John de Crebarrie, but it was the Johnstone family who were the first owners of Carberry Tower. The original building was a simple square tower house, built more for strength than ornament. In 1541, Hugh Rigg, the King's Advocate, leased the lands from the abbey. It appeared Hugh Rigg had an agreement with the Abbot of Dunfermline to lease until 1585. Both John Knox and George Buchanan recorded an unflattering story that Hugh Rigg advised Regent Arran to change the position of the Scottish army at the nearby Battle of Pinkie in 1547. Buchanan mentions that Hugh was known for his corpulence rather than military skill and Knox suggests that Hugh advised the manouevre to keep the English away from Carberry.

In June 1567, on Carberry Hill, part of the Carberry Estate, Mary, Queen of Scots, faced an army assembled by a confederation of her lords. She quickly surrendered herself to the lords, and was then imprisoned. A monument, the Queen's Mount, still stands nearby commemorating the incident.

In 1587, after the Scottish Reformation, the lands and tower of Carberry were annexed by the Crown and new superiors, the Maitlands of Lauderdale, were appointed. On 1 April 1600, the Riggs received a charter from Queen Anne, wife of James VI of Scotland for a further stay at 'Carberrie'. The estate later, in 1659, passed to Sir Adam Blair of Lochwood, but that family only lived there for 30 years before transferring the property to Sir Robert Dickson of Inveresk, whose son, also Robert, was the Chief Baillie of Musselburgh in 1745, when the rebel Jacobite troops passed between Carberry and Musselburgh on their way to the Battle of Prestonpans on the 21 September of that year. In 1760, John Fullerton moved into Carberry Tower and it was he who began the alterations and enlargement of the tower. It seemed, over the years, as if the extensions were being built, piece by piece, in an anti-clockwise direction. John's niece, Elizabeth, married the Hon. William Elphinstone in 1774 and the house passed into the Elphinstone family in 1801. More alterations on the old tower commenced in 1830.

William Elphinstone, 15th Lord Elphinstone, succeeded to the estate in 1861 and it was he who was largely responsible for the complete redesign of the estate. The arboretum, for cultivating plants, was started during his tenure. His son, Sydney Herbert, 16th Lord Elphinstone, married Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon, sister of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The young Elizabeth visited her sister and helped at the Red Cross bazaar held at Carberry Tower in 1915.

The couple made great improvements to both house and estate, particularly the laying-out of the formal garden in 1911. Specimen trees and many other varieties of plants were planted in the park. Sydney Elphinstone died in 1955 and his wife, Lady Mary, died six years later in 1961. Lady Mary bequeathed the tower to the Church of Scotland. The church used the tower as a conference centre where they built an annexe and a chapel in the park. Much of the estate was sold in small parcels, though most of it is in the ownership of the Buccleuch Estate.

In 2004, the tower was sold to the Gartmore House charitable trust, and in 2008 it underwent major refurbishment.

In April 2011 the property was acquired by Clarenco LLP who trade under the brand AmaZing Venues. After undergoing an extensive multi-million pound refurbishment, Carberry Tower is now run as a wedding and events venue and hotel.

In June 2015 Carberry Tower was put up for sale by AmaZing Ventures for £3 Million and sold to Kingsland Estate LDT.

Carberry Festival
Carberry Festival was a Christian arts festival held at Carberry Tower from 1986 for 22 years running until 2008, this was the brainchild of Jock and Margaret Stein who were the resident wardens in charge at that time. Focusing on people who joined in worship and activities, the festival reached its peak in the 1990s, and offered an opportunity for retreat, particularly for young families, in a very tranquil setting, and a house which at that time retained un-commercialised character. Music was a core element of the festival, and artists would often be invited to perform and play small concerts in the small chapel. These artist included people from many countries. Over the years, hundreds of Christian artists including Fischy Music, Suzanne Adam, Vangel, Albert Bogle, Riding Lights Theatre Company, Yvonne Lyon, Acquitted and many more. The festival also offered a children's program which allowed parents time pursue other activities. On the acquisition of Carberry Tower by (Gartmore House) (at that time) the festival was discontinued.

Carberry Tower

Merchiston Tower, also known as Merchiston Castle, was probably built by Alexander Napier, the second Laird of Merchiston around 1454. It serves as the seat for Clan Napier. It was the home of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston and the inventor of logarithms, who was born there in 1550.

The tower stands at the centre of Edinburgh Napier University's Merchiston campus.

The lands surrounding the castle were acquired in 1438 by Alexander Napier, the first Laird of Merchiston, and remained in the Napier family for most of the following five centuries.

Merchiston Castle was probably built as a country house, but its strategic position and the turbulent political situation required it to be heavily fortified – with some walls as much as six feet thick – and it was frequently under siege. During restoration in the 1960s, a 26-pound cannonball was found embedded in the Tower, thought to date from the struggle in 1572 between Mary, Queen of Scots, and supporters of her son, James VI.

In 1659, the castle was sold to Ninian Lowis, in whose family it remained until 1729, when it was sold to the governors of George Watson's Hospital (the Merchant Company of Edinburgh). The tower was reacquired by the Napier of Merchiston family when Francis Napier, 6th Lord Napier bought it in 1752.

In 1772, a year before the sixth Lord's death, the Tower was sold to a relative, Charles Hope-Weir, second son of John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun. Weir sold it in 1775 to Robert Turner, a lawyer, who sold it in 1785 to Robert Blair, a professor of astronomy at Edinburgh University.

The Napier family again came into possession of Merchiston Castle in 1818, when it was purchased by William Napier, 9th Lord Napier.

In 1833, Lord Napier let the Tower to Charles Chalmers, who founded the Merchiston Castle School. It was sold outright to the school in 1914 by The Honourable John Scott Napier, fourteenth Laird of Merchiston (son of Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier). The school vacated the building in 1930, moving to a site some three miles away.

In 1930 the property returned to the ownership of The Merchant Company, who used nearby playing fields for George Watson's College, which was soon itself to move nearby. Then in 1935 the tower passed to Edinburgh City Council. It remained unoccupied (except for war service) until 1956, when it was suggested as the centrepiece of a new technical college. Restoration work began in 1958, highlights of which were the discovery of the entrance drawbridge and the preservation of a seventeenth-century plaster ceiling.

It now stands at the centre of Napier University’s Merchiston campus.

Design

The Tower is an interesting and elaborate example of the medieval tower house, being built on the familiar "L" plan with a wing projecting to the north. It was originally vaulted at the second floor and the roof. Among several remarkable features is the unusual elaboration of the main entrance, which is at second floor level in the south front. The tall shallow recess in which the doorway is set undoubtedly housed a drawbridge which must have rested upon an outwork some 14 feet above ground level and 10 feet from the Tower.

Shortly after being let to Merchiston Castle School it was considerably altered with the addition of a castellated Gothic-style two-story extension (see picture) and a basement, which has since been removed.

Napier University has taken out large sections of wall on the northern extension to accommodate a corridor which runs through the Castle to other campus buildings.

Merchiston Castle

Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age (2nd century AD), although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world".

Few of the present buildings pre-date the Lang Siege of the 16th century, when the medieval defences were largely destroyed by artillery bombardment. The most notable exceptions are St Margaret's Chapel from the early 12th century, which is regarded as the oldest building in Edinburgh, the Royal Palace and the early-16th-century Great Hall, although the interiors have been much altered from the mid-Victorian period onwards. The castle also houses the Scottish regalia, known as the Honours of Scotland and is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial and the National War Museum of Scotland. The British Army is still responsible for some parts of the castle, although its presence is now largely ceremonial and administrative. Some of the castle buildings house regimental museums which contribute to its presentation as a tourist attraction.

The castle, in the care of Historic Scotland, is Scotland's most-visited paid tourist attraction, with over 2 million visitors in 2017 and over 70% of leisure visitors to Edinburgh visiting the castle. As the backdrop to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo during the annual Edinburgh Festival the castle has become a recognisable symbol of Edinburgh and of Scotland.

Pre-history of the Castle Rock
The castle stands upon the plug of an extinct volcano, which is estimated to have risen about 350 million years ago during the lower Carboniferous period. The Castle Rock is the remains of a volcanic pipe, which cut through the surrounding sedimentary rock before cooling to form very hard dolerite, a type of basalt. Subsequent glacial erosion was resisted by the dolerite, which protected the softer rock to the east, leaving a crag and tail formation.

The summit of the Castle Rock is 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level, with rocky cliffs to the south, west and north, rising to a height of 80 metres (260 ft) above the surrounding landscape. This means that the only readily accessible route to the castle lies to the east, where the ridge slopes more gently. The defensive advantage of such a site is self-evident, but the geology of the rock also presents difficulties, since basalt is extremely impermeable. Providing water to the Upper Ward of the castle was problematic, and despite the sinking of a 28-metre (92 ft) deep well, the water supply often ran out during drought or siege, for example during the Lang Siege in 1573.

Earliest habitation
Archaeological investigation has yet to establish when the Castle Rock was first used as a place of human habitation. There is no record of any Roman interest in the location during General Agricola's invasion of northern Britain near the end of the 1st century AD. Ptolemy's map of the 2nd century AD shows a settlement in the territory of the Votadini named "Alauna", meaning "rock place", making this possibly the earliest known name for the Castle Rock. This could, however, refer to another of the tribe's hill forts in the area. The Orygynale Cronykil of Andrew of Wyntoun (c. 1350 – c. 1423), an early source for Scottish history, names "Ebrawce" (Ebraucus), a legendary King of the Britons, as having "byggyd [built] Edynburgh". According to the earlier chronicler, Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1100 – c. 1155), Ebraucus had fifty children by his twenty wives, and was the founder of "Kaerebrauc" (York), "Alclud" (Dumbarton) and the "Maidens' Castle". The 16th-century English writer John Stow (c. 1525 – 1605), credited Ebraucus with building "the Castell of Maidens called Edenbrough" in 989 BC. The name "Maidens' Castle" (Latin: Castra or Castellum Puellarum) occurs frequently up until the 16th century. It appears in charters of David I (r. 1124–1153) and his successors, although the reason for it is not known. William Camden's survey of Britain, Britannia (1607), records that "the Britans called [it] Castle Myned Agned [winged rock], the Scots, the Maidens Castle and the Virgins Castle, of certaine young maidens of the Picts roiall bloud who were kept there in old time". According to the 17th-century antiquarian Father Richard Hay, the "maidens" were a group of nuns, who were ejected from the castle and replaced by canons, considered "fitter to live among soldiers". However, this story was considered "apocryphal" by the 19th-century antiquarian Daniel Wilson and has been ignored by historians since. The name may have been derived from a "Cult of the Nine Maidens" type of legend. Arthurian legends suggest that the site once held a shrine to Morgain la Fee, one of nine sisters. Later, St Monenna, said to be one of nine companions, reputedly invested a church at Edinburgh, as well as at Dumbarton and other places. Similar names are shared by many other Iron Age hillforts and may have simply described a castle that had never been taken by force or derived from an earlier Brittonic name like mag dun.

An archaeological excavation in the early 1990s uncovered evidence of the site having been settled during the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age, potentially making the Castle Rock the longest continually occupied site in Scotland. However, the extent of the finds was not particularly significant and was insufficient to draw any certain conclusions about the precise nature or scale of this earliest known phase of occupation.

The archaeological evidence is more reliable in respect of the Iron Age. Traditionally, it had been supposed that the tribes of central Scotland had made little or no use of the Castle Rock. Excavations at nearby Dunsapie Hill, Duddingston, Inveresk and Traprain Law had revealed relatively large settlements and it was supposed that these sites had been chosen in preference to the Castle Rock. However, the excavation in the 1990s pointed to the probable existence of an enclosed hill fort on the rock, although only the fringes of the site were excavated. House fragments revealed were similar to Iron Age dwellings previously found in Northumbria.

The 1990s dig revealed clear signs of habitation from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, consistent with Ptolemy's reference to "Alauna". Signs of occupation included some Roman material, including pottery, bronzes and brooches, implying a possible trading relationship between the Votadini and the Romans beginning with Agricola's northern campaign in AD 82, and continuing through to the establishment of the Antonine Wall around AD 140. The nature of the settlement in this period is inconclusive, but Driscoll and Yeoman suggest it may have been a broch, similar to the one at Edin's Hall near Duns in the Scottish Borders.

Early Middle Ages
The castle does not re-appear in contemporary historical records from the time of Ptolemy until around AD 600. Then, in the epic Welsh poem Y Gododdin there is a reference to Din Eidyn, "the stronghold of Eidyn". This has been generally assumed to refer to the Castle Rock. The poem tells of the Gododdin King Mynyddog Mwynfawr, and his band of warriors, who, after a year of feasting in their fortress, set out to do battle with the Angles at "Catreath" (possibly Catterick) in Yorkshire. Despite performing glorious deeds of valour and bravery, the poem relates that the Gododdin were massacred.

The Irish annals record that in 638, after the events related in Y Gododdin, "Etin" was besieged by the Angles under Oswald of Northumbria, and the Gododdin were defeated. The territory around Edinburgh then became part of the Kingdom of Northumbria, which was itself absorbed by England in the 10th century. Lothian became part of Scotland, during the reign of Indulf (r.954–962).

The archaeological evidence for the period in question is based entirely on the analysis of middens (domestic refuse heaps), with no evidence of structures. Few conclusions can therefore be derived about the status of the settlement during this period, although the midden deposits show no clear break since Roman times.

High Middle Ages
The first documentary reference to a castle at Edinburgh is John of Fordun's account of the death of King Malcolm III. Fordun describes his widow, the future Saint Margaret, as residing at the "Castle of Maidens" when she is brought news of his death in November 1093. Fordun's account goes on to relate how Margaret died of grief within days, and how Malcolm's brother Donald Bane laid siege to the castle. However, Fordun's chronicle was not written until the later 14th century, and the near-contemporary account of the life of St Margaret by Bishop Turgot makes no mention of a castle. During the reigns of Malcolm III and his sons, Edinburgh Castle became one of the most significant royal centres in Scotland. Malcolm's son King Edgar died here in 1107.
Malcolm's youngest son, King David I (r.1124–1153), developed Edinburgh as a seat of royal power principally through his administrative reforms (termed by some modern scholars the Davidian Revolution). Between 1139 and 1150, David held an assembly of nobles and churchmen, a precursor to the parliament of Scotland, at the castle. Any buildings or defences would probably have been of timber, although two stone buildings are documented as having existed in the 12th century. Of these, St. Margaret's Chapel remains at the summit of the rock. The second was a church, dedicated to St. Mary, which stood on the site of the Scottish National War Memorial. Given that the southern part of the Upper Ward (where Crown Square is now sited) was not suited to being built upon until the construction of the vaults in the 15th century, it seems probable that any earlier buildings would have been located towards the northern part of the rock; that is around the area where St. Margaret's Chapel stands. This has led to a suggestion that the chapel is the last remnant of a square, stone keep, which would have formed the bulk of the 12th-century fortification. The structure may have been similar to the keep of Carlisle Castle, which David I began after 1135.

David's successor King Malcolm IV (r.1153–1165) reportedly stayed at Edinburgh more than at any other location. But in 1174, King William "the Lion" (r.1165–1214) was captured by the English at the Battle of Alnwick. He was forced to sign the Treaty of Falaise to secure his release, in return for surrendering Edinburgh Castle, along with the castles of Berwick, Roxburgh and Stirling, to the English King, Henry II. The castle was occupied by the English for twelve years, until 1186, when it was returned to William as the dowry of his English bride, Ermengarde de Beaumont, who had been chosen for him by King Henry. By the end of the 12th century, Edinburgh Castle was established as the main repository of Scotland's official state papers.

Edinburgh Castle is located at the top of the Royal Mile, at the west end of Edinburgh's Old Town. The volcanic Castle Rock offers a naturally defended position, with sheer cliffs to north and south, and a steep ascent from the west. The only easy approach is from the town to the east, and the castle's defences are situated accordingly, with a series of gates protecting the route to the summit of the Castle Rock.