Craigmillar Castle Craigmillar Castle Road, Edinburgh South EH16 4SY | |
01316614445 | |
Craigmillar Castle Website | |
Follow histenvscot on Twitter | |
Facebook information can be found here | |
In light of updated Scottish Government advice regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have taken the decision to close public access to our staffed properties and offices until further notice. All planned public events will also be postponed until further notice – full details of these can be found on our Events page in the coming days: historicenvironment.scot/whats-on.
Craigmillar is one of Scotland’s most perfectly preserved castles. It began as a simple tower-house residence. Gradually, over time, it developed into a complex of structures and spaces, as subsequent owners attempted to improve its comfort and amenity. As a result, there are many nooks and crannies to explore. Of equal importance were the surrounding gardens and parkland, and the present-day Craigmillar Castle Park has fascinating reminders of the castle’s days as a rural retreat on the edge of Scotland’s capital city.
At the core lies the original, late-14th-century tower house, among the first of this new form of castle built in Scotland. It stands 17m high to the battlements, has walls almost 3m thick, and holds a warren of rooms, including a fine great hall on the first floor, and the so-called ‘Queen Mary’s Room’ beside it, where Mary is said to have slept when staying there as a guest of the Prestons. In all probability, Mary resided in a multi-roomed apartment elsewhere in the courtyard, probably in the east range.
Also here is a labyrinth of dark spaces, including a grim basement prison where an upright skeleton was found walled up in the early 19th century. The west range was rebuilt as the Gilmour family’s residence after 1660. Beyond the well-preserved 15th-century courtyard wall, complete with gunholes shaped like inverted keyholes, lie other buildings, including a private family chapel.
Dirleton Castle hase some of the oldest castle architecture surviving in Scotland – the de Vaux towers, built around 1240.
READ MOREConnecting Scotland to the world and the world to Scotland.
READ MOREA free museum, perfect for locals and visitors alike. Find out about our Royal connections, the trades of the town, the ordinary - and extra-ordinary! - people.
READ MORECome and learn about the Scottish involvement in the British military from WW1 to the present day at the Military Museum Scotland!
READ MORESteeped in some of Edinburgh's greatest history, Greater Grassmarket is only a minutes' walk from the popular Royal Mile and visitor favourite, the National Museum of Scotland.
READ MOREThe John Gray Centre brings together East Lothian Council’s Archaeology, Museum, Archive and Local History Services, alongside Haddington’s branch library.
READ MOREBlackness Castle stands by the Firth of Forth, at the port that served the royal burgh of Linlithgow in medieval times.
READ MOREOwned by The Earl and Countess of RosslynRosslyn Chapel was founded in 1446 as a place of worship and services continue to be held here weekly. The Chapel...
READ MOREThe award-winning Cadies & Witchery Tours invite you to join their fearless phantoms for a suspenseful and mirth-filled tour of Edinburgh's Old Town!
READ MOREThe RCPE is an independent standard-setting body and professional membership organisation. Our aim is to improve and maintain the quality of patient care.
READ MOREThe Tron Kirk, or Christ’s Kirk at the Tron, has stood in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town for almost 400 years.
READ MOREPrinces Street Gardens lies at centre of Edinburgh's World Heritage Site, within New Town and Old Town Outstanding Conservation Areas.
READ MORE