Fa'side Castle
Parish: Tranent
County: East Lothian
Grid reference: NT 37769 70978
Lat / long: 55.9279, -2.9975
Alternative names: Falside Castle; Faside Castle; Fauxside Castle; Fawside Castle; Fawsyde Castle; Ffauside Castle
The first castle at Fawside - later Fa'side - is thought to have been built in the late 12th century by Robert de Quincy. However the majority of the current castle consists of a four-storey 15th century tower.
There is a legend that an underground passage connects Fa'side Castle with Tranent Tower, some 3 kilometres way.
After the Battle of Pinkie in 1547 the castle was set fire to by the Duke of Somerset, sustaining considerable damage. Later in the 16th century a new wing was added forming an L-plan to the south.
At some point in the 17th or 18th centuries the castle fell into disrepair and was uninhabited, as it wasn't mentioned in the window tax records between 1748 and 1798. By the 1970s the castle was under threat of demolition, but it was bought by a local couple and restored between 1976 and 1982. It is now run as Faside Castle self-catering accommodation.
