Historic Buildings of East Lothian (Haddingtonshire)

Historic County of Scotland

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Image right - Gosford House

If you have information about any of the Buildings mentioned below please share it here. If you have ancestors linked to any of the places please add them to the project.

The object of this project is to provide information about historic buildings in the county of East Lothian, with links to sub-projects for specific buildings as appropriate. GENi profiles of people associated with those establishments can be linked to this project and/or to individual projects where they have been set up.

Historic Buildings of East Lothian (Haddingtonshire)

... in alphabetical order

❊ Indicates an available image in Gallery attached to the project

Including Castles, Abbeys, Manor Houses, Mansions, Stately Homes, Country houses, Estate houses, Courts, Halls, Parks and other listed buildings of historic interest

A

• Athelstaneford Castle
• Auldhame Castle ❊ - a ruined L-plan tower house standing on a ridge above Seacliff beach, was built in the 16th century, probably by Adam Otterburn of Reidhall, Lord Provost of Edinburgh. One of the three supposed corpses of Saint Baldred of Tyninghame was said to have been buried at the site in 756.

B

• Balgone House - Scottish mansion of the 17th century
• Ballencrieff Castle - a.k.a. Ballencrieff House, is a large tower house built in 1507 when King James IV ordered his private secretary James Murray to build himself a fortified house at Ballencrieff. It was destroyed in or around 1545, and rebuilt by his son, also John Murray, in 1586. General James Murray, a Governor of Canada, was born there in 1721. The house burnt down accidentally in 1868, and stood roofless until it was restored between 1992 and 1997. It is now privately owned, and it is situated next to a free range rare breed pig farm.
• Barnes Castle - a.k.a. Barney Vaults - ruins of an unfinished 16th c residence/castle, nr Haddington. The castle was started by Sir John Seton of Barnes, diplomat at the court of Philip II of Spain and later James VI's Treasurer of the Household and an Extraordinary Lord of Session, who died in 1594.
• Bass Castle - 16th century (though an earlier 'Castell of the Bas' is mentioned in 1405). At that time (i.e. 16th century) it belonged to the Lauders of Bass, passing to the Crown in 1671 and to Sir Hew Dalrymple of North Berwick in 1706. In 1902 the E part of the screen wall was pointed and given a flat-topped profile, and the lighthouse built above it (on the site of the governor's house).
• Belton Castle
• Biel House - early tower house. By the end of the 18th century the whole house had been battlemented, but in 1814-8 it became a mere appendage to vast monastic Gothic additions to the E by William Atkinson, who brought its harled exterior into conformity, adding hood-moulds over all the windows.John Hamilton, 2nd Lord Belhaven, anti-Unionist, lived at Biel in the early 18th century, and inserted a dated stone (1707), with latin inscription, currently in National Museum of Scotland.
• Black Castle Iron Age hillfort
• Bothwell Castle - late 16th or early 17th century town house, now in ruins. See Canmore 56552
• Byres Castle - ruins, thought to date back to the 16th century. During the Rough Wooing the English are said to have dismantled Byres in 1548, and it was probably rebuilt in its current form following the English departure from Haddington in 1549. The existence of an earlier castle is proved by the fact that the title of John, 1st Lord Lindsay of The Byres was created in 1445.

C

• Carberry Tower
• Castle Tarbet
• Colstoun House

D

• Dirleton Castle ❊
• Dolphingstone Castle
• Dunbar Castle
• Dunglass Castle

E

• Eaglescairnie
• East Lothian Castle ❊
• Eldbotle Castle
• Elphinstone Tower

F

• Fa’side Castle
• Fenton Tower ❊

G

• Gamelshiel Castle
• Garleton Castle
• Gosford House ❊

H

• Hailes Castle
• Hamilton House
• Harehead Castle
• Herdmanston House

I

• Innerwick Castle

J

• Johnstounburn

K

• Keith Marischal ❊
• Kilduff Tower
• Kilspindie Castle

L

• Lennoxlove House
• Linplum
• Longniddry Castle
• Luffness House

M

• Markle Castle
• Mayshiel
• Morham Castle

N

• North Berwick Castle
• Northfield House
• Nunraw House

O

• Ormiston Castle

P

• Penkaet Castle
• Pirn Castle
• Preston Tower
• Prestongrange House

R

• Redhouse Castle

S

• Saltcoats Castle
• Saltoun Hall
• Seacliff Tower
• Seton Castle
• Spott House
• Stevenson House
• Stoneypath Tower
• Sydserf House

T

• Tantallon Castle ❊
• Thornton Castle
• Tranent Tower
• Tyninghame House

W

• Waughton Castle
• Whitekirk Castle
• Whittingehame Castle
• Winton House
• Woodhall House

X-Y-Z

• Yester Castle
• Yester House

References and Sources

East Lothian Specific

General

• http://www.stravaiging.com/history/castles/county/#sthash.Xn3ZSCEQ....
• http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
• http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_houses_in_the_United_K...
• http://www.britainsfinest.co.uk/historichouses/
• http://www.britainexpress.com/Where_to_go_in_Britain/historic_house...
• http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/
• Historic Houses Association - represents 1,500 houses in the UK
• Hudson's Historic Houses and Gardens - UK - guidebook of over 2,000 houses open to the public
• The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses - database of over 7,000 houses
• Lost Heritage - A Memorial to the Lost Country Houses of England - list of over 1,700 houses
• National Trust for Historic Preservation - online database of historic houses in the United State
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Houses_Association - http://www.hha.org.uk/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Houses_of_England

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