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Tranent Tower

Tranent Tower is a small L-plan tower house thought to have been built in the late 16th century on lands belonging to the Seton family. It may possibly have replaced an earlier tower dating back to the 13th century, which may have been built by the de Quincy family (who built the nearby Fa’side Castle).

In the mid-16th century many neighbouring castles – such as Fa’side Castle, Preston Tower and Winton Castle – were burned at the hands of the English during the Rough Wooing and following the Battle of Pinkie, so it’s possible that the old de Quincy tower was burned at this time and needed replacing.

Although not immediately obvious due to the proximity of buildings around it, Tranent Tower would once have commanded fine views over the River Forth, standing in at the top of a hill that runs up to the centre of Tranent.

The tower is built of sandstone rubble and measures approximately 11.1m east to west by 7.6m north to south, rising to 3 storeys in height. At the south west corner is a square stair tower which projects southwards.

The ground floor of the tower is split into two barrel-vaulted chambers. There is an entrance into the eastern chamber, with a doorway leading through into the west chamber and giving access to the stair.

The first floor contains the main hall, which is also now split into two rooms. This division was apparently made after the tower was built, but quite early on in its life. The hall features a large fireplace (now blocked), a recessed lavabo and aumbries, and a possible buffet recess in the north wall.

On the second floor there is also an inserted dividing wall splitting the storey into two chambers, presumably bedrooms.

At the top of the stair tower there was a watch chamber above the level of the second floor, slightly built out on corbels, which was latterly used as a doocot. The roof of the main tower featured crow-stepped gables and a pan-tiled roof until the 1970s, but this was probably not the original roof construction, which may have featured a small parapet. The tower is currently unroofed, the roof having fallen in some time after the 1970s.

The entrance and most of the small windows are on the south side of the tower, which may suggest that there was once a barmkin on this side, although no evidence remain of that. It is possible that the cottage that buts up against the west side of the tower may have incorporated parts of a building within the courtyard formed by a barmkin wall.

Around the beginning of the 17th century, Tranent Tower was leased from the Earl of Winton by the Vallance family, and after later buying the tower it remained in their hands through until 1890 when it was bought by Charles Stirling of Kirkintilloch.

Having at one time been used as a stable and hayloft during the 20th century, Tranent Tower was listed in 1953, at which time it backed on to a field. That field has now been occupied by a new housing development off Sanderson’s Wynd.

In 2008 Tranent Tower was sold at auction, with a guide price of £40,000 to £45,000, and it’s though that the present owner intends to restore it with a view to converting it into a residential property once more. Scaffolding was erected in 2010 due to the instability of the walls.

There is a legend that an underground passage connects Tranent Tower with Fa’side Castle, some 3 kilometres way.

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Alternative names for Tranent Tower

Tranent Castle; Trauernent

Where is Tranent Tower?

Tranent Tower is in the parish of Tranent and the county of East Lothian.

Grid reference: NT 40483 73047

Lat / long: 55.946749, -2.95441

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OS Map for Tranent Tower

OS map 351
Dunbar & North Berwick (Musselburgh & Haddington)
OS Explorer map 351


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Directions to Tranent Tower

Enter a starting point

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Weather at Tranent Tower

14°C
max 15°C / min 13°C
27km/h SW
1018mb
85%
100%
03:25 21:00

Overcast clouds
Weather observed at Tranent at 04:37

References (books)

The Castles of Scotland
Martin Coventry
Prestongrange, 2015

References (websites)

Canmore

Castles near Tranent Tower

Hamilton House

1.8km away

Preston Tower

1.8km away

Northfield House

1.8km away

Dolphingstone Castle (site of)

2.3km away

Seton Castle (site of)

2.4km away

West Adniston (site of)

2.5km away

East Adniston

2.6km away

Prestongrange House

2.7km away

Fa'side Castle

3.4km away
more castles....
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Ancient sites near Tranent Tower

Westfield cursus

5.8km away

Costerton (site of) fort

10.6km away

Costerton souterrain

10.9km away

Crichton Mains souterrain

11.1km away

Longfaugh fort

11.3km away

The Chesters fort

11.5km away

The Chesters fort

11.5km away

Kae Heughs fort

11.8km away

Dunsapie fort

12.3km away
more ancient sites....
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Pictish stones near Tranent Tower

Abernethy No. 2 Class III symbol stone

14.6km away

Abernethy No. 4 Class III cross shaft

14.6km away

Princes Street Gardens Class I symbol stone

15.5km away

Court Cave Class I rock carving

24.7km away

Doo Cave Class I rock carving

24.7km away

Jonathan's Cave Class I rock carving

24.9km away

Sliding Cave Class I rock carving

24.9km away

Scoonie Class II cross slab

28.7km away

Largo Class II cross slab

30.5km away
more Pictish stones....
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Pictish sites near Tranent Tower

Haddington silver chain

11.0km away

Traprain Law silver chain

17.9km away

Whitlaw silver chain

26.8km away

Norrie's Law hoard

34.3km away

Hoardweel silver chain

40.4km away

Borland silver chain

43.4km away

Todholes (possible) silver chain

45.6km away

Whitecleugh silver chain

79.3km away

Dunnicaer fort

121.5km away
more Pictish sites....
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Accommodation near Tranent Tower

Anchorage B&B
bed and breakfastPort Seton
2.8km away
Seton Sands Holiday Park
holiday parkPort Seton
3.2km away
Fa'side Castle
bed and breakfast, self-catering apartmentTranent
3.4km away
Wintonhill Farmhouse
self-catering cottagePencaitland
4.3km away
Winton Cottage
self-catering cottagePencaitland
5.1km away
Carberry Tower
hotel, bar, restaurantMusselburgh
5.4km away
Premier Inn Edinburgh A1 (Musselburgh)
hotel, restaurantEdinburgh
5.6km away
Queen Margaret University
hostelMusselburgh
7.6km away
Wester Cowden Farmhouse
bed and breakfastDalkeith
8.0km away
Best Western Kings Manor Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
8.8km away

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bed and breakfasts
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more accommodation....

Cafés, restaurants & bars near Tranent Tower

Carberry Tower
hotel, bar, restaurantMusselburgh
5.4km away
Premier Inn Edinburgh A1 (Musselburgh)
hotel, restaurantEdinburgh
5.6km away
The Birdcage
restaurant, barMusselburgh
6.6km away
Gosford Bothy Farm Shop
caféAberlady
8.2km away
Best Western Kings Manor Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
8.8km away
Premier Inn Edinburgh A1 (Newcraighall)
hotel, restaurantEdinburgh
8.9km away
Ducks at Kilspindie House
hotel, restaurant, barAberlady
9.0km away
The County Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barDalkeith
9.1km away
Premier Inn Edinburgh A7 (Dalkeith)
hotel, restaurantDalkeith
11.0km away
Dean Tavern
barNewtongrange
11.2km away
more food.... / more drink....

Related pages

Dirleton Castle in East Lothian
Dirleton Castle in East Lothian
Garden of Cosmic Speculation plus castles
Garden of Cosmic Speculation plus castles
Inveraray Castle and standing stone
Inveraray Castle and standing stone
A doocot, a castle and a beach in East Lothian
A doocot, a castle and a beach in East Lothian
A pair of castles on the River Tweed
A pair of castles on the River Tweed
Dunbar harbour and castle
Dunbar harbour and castle
Published on the 14th of May 2010 at 2:00 pm. Updated on the 9th of June 2020 at 5:32 pm.

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Andy Sweet above Fast Castle

Stravaiging around Scotland is written, photographed and researched by Andy Sweet.
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