Waughton Castle is a ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, dating from the fourteenth century, about north of East Linton, and west of Whitekirk 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 histo ...

, Scotland.Coventry,Martin (2001) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.408 It is a scheduled monument.

Structure

Waughton Castle was a castle with a courtyard, but only part of one wing remains. The ruins are on a rock terrace, which is about 15 feet higher than the surrounding ground to the west and south. The remains of a small tower, at the south-west angle, and which is built of rubble with freestone dressing, stand up to 25 feet in height. Features of a narrow window in the south wall suggest that this is a 16th-century structure. A wall has been built to east and north of the rock, with a structure at the angle, but they are believed to date from later. There is a partially artificial stairway up the rock. There is a doocot in the grounds.

History

There is a mention of a hall at ‘Walchtoun’ in a document from 1395. The castle was the property of the

Hepburn Hepburn may refer to: Surname People with the surname Hepburn (the most famous in recent times being actresses Katharine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn): * Hepburn (surname) Linguistics * Hepburn romanization, a system for the romanization of Japa ...

family. It was sacked by the English in 1547. In January 1570, when it was in the keeping of the Laird of Carmichael, the castle was raided by a dispossessed Hepburn. The Hepburns acquired the castle again by legal means, and retained it until Alexander Cockburn purchased the castle from John Hepburn. By the 18th century the castle was being used as material for building walls and cottages in the area. James VI made a hunting trip to the area in February 1595, planning to visit Dunglass,

Spott Spott is a small village on the eastern fringes of East Lothian in Scotland, just over south-west of Dunbar. The village straddles an unclassified road leading from the main A1 road (Great Britain), A1 highway at . History There is believed t ...

, Beil, Waughton, and Seton.

Annie Cameron Annie Isabella Cameron (1897-1973) was a Scottish historian. Biography She was the daughter of Mary Sinclair, and James Cameron, a Glasgow engineer. She studied history at the University of Glasgow and the University of St Andrews. She wrote a doc ...

, ''Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595'', vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 529 nos. 464-5.

References

External links

* * Reconstruction of Waughton Castle http://www.maybole.org/history/castles/garleton.htm {{coord , 56.0189, N, 2.6962, W, display=title Castles in East Lothian Ruined castles in Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in East Lothian