Dirleton Castle

Dirleton Castle

A castle on a rock

In the village of Dirleton in East Lothian, not far from Scotland's east coast, a cluster of mighty stone towers rises from a low, rocky outcrop. This is one of the oldest surviving castles in Scotland, and parts of it date back to around 1240.

Dirleton was not built as a single tall tower, like many later Scottish castles, but as a tight group of great rounded towers and ranges packed onto the rock — a strong, compact fortress designed to dominate the surrounding farmland. A wooden bridge still leads across the old ditch to the gate, just as it did for the castle's medieval lords.

The de Vaux lords

The first stone castle here was raised by the de Vaux family, Anglo-Norman lords who came to Scotland and built themselves a stronghold to match their power. Their massive towers, with walls metres thick, show just how serious a fortress Dirleton was meant to be.

Over the centuries the castle passed to other powerful families, the Halyburtons and then the Ruthvens, each of whom rebuilt and extended it, adding more comfortable living quarters to the grim early towers.

War on the frontier

East Lothian lay on the road that armies marched along between England and Scotland, and Dirleton was caught up in the Wars of Scottish Independence. In 1298, during the campaigns of King Edward I of England, the castle was besieged and captured by English forces after a hard fight.

Dirleton changed hands more than once in these wars, and was damaged and repaired again and again. Its final downfall came much later, in 1650, when it was battered into surrender during the wars of Oliver Cromwell's time and then deliberately slighted so it could never be defended again.

Gardens fit for a record book

Although the castle is a ruin, Dirleton is surrounded by some of the loveliest gardens in Scotland. The grounds hold a beautiful flower garden whose great herbaceous border was once recognised as the longest of its kind in the world. There is also a charming old doocot (dovecote), where pigeons were kept for food, with hundreds of stone nesting boxes inside.

Today Dirleton is cared for by Historic Environment Scotland. Visitors can climb among its ancient towers, peer into gloomy prison pits and vaulted kitchens, and then step out into bright gardens full of flowers — a castle that mixes the harshness of medieval war with the gentleness of a country garden.