Auldhame Castle is a ruined
L-plan tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strate ...
standing on a ridge above
Seacliff beach, about 3 miles east of
North Berwick
North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...
in
East Lothian
East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.
In 1975, the hi ...
, and less than half a mile from
Tantallon Castle
Tantallon Castle is a ruined mid-14th-century fortress, located east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. The last medieval curtain wall castle to b ...
. The castle was built in the 16th century, probably by
Adam Otterburn
Adam Otterburn of Auldhame and Redhall (died 6 July 1548) was a Scottish lawyer and diplomat. He was king's advocate to James V of Scotland and secretary to Mary of Guise and Regent Arran.
The King's lawyer The law brought against the Douglas ...
of Reidhall,
Lord Provost of Edinburgh
The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio ...
. It consists of a three-storey main block with a projecting stair-tower. Part of a vaulted basement remains, but the upper floors are mostly gone.
One of the three supposed corpses of
Saint Baldred of Tyninghame was said to have been buried at the site in 756. A cemetery site in an adjoining field was excavated in 2008, the remains of at least 326 individual skeletons were noted, plus the foundations of a probable chapel with an estimated 9th century date (based on comparisons with similar structures).
See also
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List of castles in Scotland
This is a list of castles in Scotland. A castle is a type of fortified structure built primarily during the Middle Ages. Scholars debate the scope of the word "castle", but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or ...
*
Auldhame & Scoughall
Auldhame and Scoughall are hamlets in East Lothian, Scotland. They are close to the town of North Berwick and the village of Whitekirk, and are approximately east of Edinburgh.
Saint Baldred's legacy
It is said that the 8th-century Christia ...
References
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History of Auldhame Castle
Ruined castles in East Lothian
North Berwick
Tower houses in Scotland
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