Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh

Wee Guides to Scotland
Craigmillar Castle near Edinburgh

Goblinshead

130 Inveresk Rd
Musselburgh
EH21 7AY
SCOTLAND

A strong, imposing and well-preserved ruin, Craigmillar Castle consists of a 14th-century L-plan keep, surrounded by a 15th-century curtain wall with round corner towers. Early in the 16th century it was given an additional walled courtyard, protected by a ditch. The Prestons held the property from 1374, and built a new castle on the site of a much older stronghold. In 1477 James III imprisoned his brother John, Earl of Mar, in one of its cellars, where he died. The Earl of Hertford burnt the castle in 1544, after valuables placed here by the citizens of Edinburgh had been stolen by the English. James V visited the castle to escape 'the pest' in Edinburgh. Mary, Queen of Scots, used Craigmillar often, and fled here in 1566 after the murder of Rizzio by, among others, her second husband Darnley. It was also here that the Regent Moray, Bothwell and William Maitland of Lethington plotted Darnley's murder. Mary's son, James VI, also visited.
A walled-up skeleton was found in one of the vaults in 1813. The castle featured in the BBC production of Ivanhoe. Exhibition and visitor centre.

Directions:	Off A68, 2.5 miles SE of Edinburgh Castle.
Ownership:	HS	0131 661 4445	Ord. Survey Map Ref:	NT 288709 66
Open:	daily all year except closed Thursday PM and Fridays October to March.
Key:	P S £	Click Here for explanation of Key and other abreviations

Fax: +44 (0) 131 653 6566 Tel: +44 (0) 131 665 2894
email:goblinshead@sol.co.uk