Auldhame Castle 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 location ...

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 strateg ...

standing on a ridge above Seacliff beach, about 3 miles east of

North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on th ...

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 histo ...

, 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 ...

. 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 f ...

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 City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...

. 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).

References

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History of Auldhame Castle
Ruined castles in East Lothian North Berwick Tower houses in Scotland {{Scotland-castle-stub

See also

References