Dirleton Castle

Dirleton Castle is a magnificent ruin, dating back to the 13th century, and comprising of several periods of work. Standing on a rocky outcrop rising out of the softly undulating surrounding farmland, it protected the coastal route to Edinburgh from England via North Berwick.

The barony of Dirleton was granted to John de Vaux - a Norman knight whose family came from Rouen in northern France - by David I in the 12th century. John built Eldbotle Castle and Castle Tarbet for the family, but by the early 13th century his grandson - also named John de Vaux - had begun building a new castle for the family here at Dirleton. A "castellum" is mentioned in 1225, but this may have been an earlier wooden structure.

In 1239, John de Vaux was appointed as seneschal (steward) to Marie de Coucy when she married Alexander II. Marie's father was Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy, who built the Château de Coucy in Picardy (c1220s), and John probably took inspiration from the Château when building Dirleton - work on the present castle is thought to have begun in 1240.

The donjon, or keep, is more or less all that remains of the 13th century stone castle, but it's a very impressive remnant. The main structure is a large round tower, separated from a smaller round tower by a further square tower. Inside the large tower is are two main rooms and several smaller chambers. One of the main rooms is a six-sided chamber at ground level, which may have served as a kitchen. Above it is a magnificent seven-sided chamber featuring a beautiful pointed vaulted ceiling, and window seats in the large window openings of the south wall.



At the south-east and north-east corners of the castle it's possible to see the remains of the bases of further 13th century round towers at the bottom of the later walls.



Dirleton passed into the hands of the Haliburton family around 1350, when John Haliburton married the daughter of another William de Vaux who had no sons. The Haliburtons made considerable additions to Dirleton in the 15th century, adding an impressive new full-height gatehouse, heightening the castle's original towers, and building a large hall and tower house to the east.



In 1505 the last Haliburton owner of Dirleton, Patrick Haliburton, died, and his estates were divided between his three daughters, Direlton going to Janet Haliburton. In 1515 Janet married William Ruthven, the 2nd Lord Ruthven, and the castle and lordship of Dirleton passed into the Ruthven family.

Soon after, the Ruthvens built the Ruthven Lodging, a three storey range to the north of the de Vaux parts of the castle. More ornate and decorative than the older buildings, it was the main residence of Lady Dorothea, widow of the first Earl of Gowrie, and their 15 children. This was to be the last stage of building work at Dirleton.



From the upper floor it's possible to see the island of Fidra, site of the old de Vaux residence of the Castle Tarbet.

The Ruthvens were a turbulent family, involved in the murder of David Rizzio, the kidnapping of James VI (twice! The Raid of Ruthven and The Gowrie Conspiracy), and in several plots against Mary Queen of Scots, and they eventually forfeited the castle in 1600, although Lady Dorothea remained in residence until her death in 1605.

After passing through several hands but remaining empty, it was temporarily reoccupied by moss-troopers in 1650 during the Third English Civil War and beseiged by Oliver Cromwell, but then left to ruin. It was bought by John Nisbet (later Lord Dirleton) in 1663, but he built a new country house nearby at Archerfield, so the castle remained empty.

The Nisbet family continued to maintain the castle's gardens until 1923 when the property was placed in state care, and it in now maintained by Historic Scotland.

More photos in the Dirleton Castle image gallery.