Tranent Tower is a ruined

L-plan An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other locations ...

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, to command and defend strategic points ...

dating from the 16th century, in

Tranent Tranent is a town in East Lothian (formerly Haddingtonshire), in the south-east of Scotland. Tranent lies 6 miles from the boundary of Edinburgh, and 9.1 miles from the city centre. It lies south of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road that r ...

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 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 ...

.Coventry, Martin (2001) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.402 The remains are 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 ...

History

Tranent Tower was built on lands belonging to the Seton family in 1542, and may have been built for them, but it was acquired by the Vallance family in the sixteenth century, who retained it until the nineteenth century. At one time it may have been used as a barracks, and in the early twentieth century as a hay loft.

Structure

The small tower is at the end of a lane in the town of Tranent, which has grown up around it. The remains are protected as a

Scheduled Ancient 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 ...

. There are two vaulted chambers in the basement. There is a main block of three storeys, and a four-storey stair-wing. It has a

pantile A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses. A pantile-covered roo ...

d roof. The first floor included the hall. The tower is in a poor state of repair. The stair-wing is at the south-west corner. The entrance is to the south, as are most of the windows. This suggests that there was a

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 ...

on this side, but there is no other evidence for this. The tower, which measures ,{{Historic Environment Scotland, cat=PLA , num=55007 , num2=NT47SW 3 , desc=Tranent Tower , access-date=9 July 2025 , fewer-links=yes is constructed in buff and brown sandstone rubble. It is likely that there was a corbelled out watch-chamber at the head of the stair which was later made into a dovecote which had a single-pitch roof. There were crow-stepped gables. The roof was still pantiled in the mid-20th century, but this is unlikely to have been its original covering and the upper storey may have been considerably reworked. There is a cross wall subdividing each floor. These walls appear to be early insertions. Probably there were earlier, less permanent, cross partitions. The hall has a large blocked fireplace, a

lavabo A lavabo is a device used to provide water for the washing of hands. It consists normally of a ewer or container of some kind to pour water, and a bowl to catch the water as it falls off the hands. In ecclesiastical usage it refers to all of: the ...

, aumbries, and what may be a buffet recess in the north wall.

References

Castles in East Lothian Scheduled monuments in East Lothian Tranent