Dirleton Castle

Dirleton Castle, East Lothian, near North Berwick, Scotland, is one of Scotland’s oldest surviving strongholds. The 13th-century fortress was for 400 years a magnificent fortified residence to three successive noble families – the de Vauxs, Haliburtons and Ruthvens.

The Ruthvens’ eventual downfall saw Dirleton abandoned as a noble residence. Oliver Cromwell’s 1650 siege then rendered it unfit for military use but the castle was not forgotten.

New owners the Nisbets bought the estate in the 1660s, turning the graceful ruins into an eye-catching feature in their new designed landscape. (They built a new mansion house, Archerfield, to live in.) Today, both castle and gardens are attractions in their own right.

Photo taken in May 2017