Dirleton Castle

One of the most beautiful ruins in Scotland, this ancient stronghold of the de Vaux stands amid a lovely flower-garden in the heart of the charming hamlet of Dirleton, the most English of Scottish villages. The castle had an eventful history from its first siege by Edward I in 1298 until its destruction by Lambert in 1650. The oldest work includes an imposing group of towers dating from the thirteenth century. These form, perhaps, the earliest known example of a clustered donjon. There is also much fine building of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The castle crowns an igneous outcrop, and some of its lower chambers, including a "pit" or dungeon, are hewn out of the rock. In the garden is a seventeenth century bowling green, surrounded by ancient yews.
Located in the village of Dirleton on the Edinburgh-North Berwick road.