Kilspindie Castle lies north of the village of

Aberlady Aberlady (, Gaelic: ''Obar Lobhaite'') is a coastal village in the Scottish council area of East Lothian. The village had an estimated population of in . Etymology The name ''Aberlady'' has Brittonic origins. The first part of the name is t ...

, in

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

, Scotland; the remains of the castle are behind the Victorian St Mary's Kirk. An early castle was destroyed in the 16th century, and the rebuilt tower was pulled down by the 18th century. Little more than a few scattered stones of the base of a doorway with a length of wall punctuated by oval gun loops remain. The area is protected as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. Another ruin called "Kilspindie Castle" was at Butterdean near

Coldingham Coldingham is a village and parish in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. It lies a short distance inland from Coldingham Bay, three miles northeast of the fishing village of Eyemouth. Parish The parish lies in the east of the Lammermuir ...

History

Early history

Metal finds from the site indicate its continuous occupation since earliest times. It has yielded the single largest concentration of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

finds yet recorded in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Clan Douglas

An early fortalice was held by the Spens, or Spence, family, possibly vassals of their over lord, the Gospatric

Earls of Dunbar The title Earl of Dunbar, also called Earl of Lothian or Earl of March, applied to the head of a Count, comital lordship in south-eastern Scotland between the early 12th century and the early 15th century. The first man to use the title of Earl i ...

. The

Douglas family Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

acquired Kilspindie around the start of the 16th century when, in a feud with Spens of Kilspindie, Archibald "Bell-the-cat", 5th Earl of Angus, tore off Spens' leg with one stroke of his great sword. The Douglas family came into ownership of the lands of Aberlady through rights bestowed by the Crown and

Gavin Douglas Gavin Douglas (c. 1474 – September 1522) was a Scottish bishop, makar and translator. Although he had an important political career, he is chiefly remembered for his poetry. His main pioneering achievement was the '' Eneados'', a full and fa ...

Bishop of Dunkeld The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the firs ...

, perhaps indicating a transfer of the name Kilspindie from the village of the same name in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

. Later use by Sir Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie of the title " Greysteil" may refer to the sword stroke used to obtain the lands of Kilspindie. The earl's fourth son by a second marriage was made Lord Treasurer of Scotland from 1520 to 1528. Kilspindie survived the sackings of the wars of the

Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (; December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following the English Reformation, the break with the Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland ...

during the 1540s, when castles, abbeys and villages throughout the Lothians and Borders were stormed, sacked and burnt. The English invaders had avoided assaulting Tantallon, home of the earl of Angus, and Hugh Douglas's

Longniddry Tower Longniddry (, )
is a coastal village in

However, in 1547, the English returned to the Lothians, defeating the Scots army at the

battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crowns, ...

, near

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...

. The following year they established a fort at Haddington and sacked nearby castles. Luffness was destroyed to enable English supplies to be landed unchallenged in Haddington. It is likely that Kilspindie was also destroyed because of its position on

Aberlady Bay Aberlady Bay in East Lothian, Scotland lies between Aberlady and Gullane. In 1952, Aberlady Bay became the UK's first Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and is served by the East Lothian Council Rangers. The Scottish Ornithologists' Club has Wa ...

A new castle

Patrick Douglas of Kilspindie built a new "castell toure and fortalice" before 1600, perhaps as early as 1558. This was thought to have been oblong in plan. It seems probable that the castle would have been surrounded by an enclosing

barmkin Barmkin, also spelled barmekin or barnekin, is a Scots word which refers to a form of medieval and later defensive enclosure, typically found around smaller castles, tower houses, pele towers, and bastle houses in Scotland and the north of Engla ...

wall with gatehouse protecting stables, brewhouse, barns, etc. The barmkin in turn would have been surrounded by a deep ditch, filled by the tide and trapped there by wooden dams when the tide withdrew. Also, the land around must have been a tidal

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

, which would have added to the defensive position. By 1612, Kilspindie was granted to Alexander Hay through his marriage on 16 January 1582 to Patrick's widow. Kilspindie is not mentioned during

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

's sacking of Lothian castles in the 1650s but by the 18th century it had already been demolished for building material elsewhere in

. A number of large stones that belonged to the house have been built into the boundary walls of the fields and road leading to the golf course. A heavy studded door from the structure is now located within Luffness House.

References

{{coord, 56.0102, N, 2.8648, W, region:GB, display=title Castles in East Lothian *Castle Kilspindie Ruins in East Lothian Scheduled monuments in East Lothian