Craigmillar Castle

Craigmillar Castle stands on rising ground south-east of Edinburgh, its grey walls a well-preserved record of Scottish castle-building across three centuries. The Preston family began the work in the late fourteenth century, and the tower house was complete by 1425, the year a charter was sealed here by Sir John Preston. This four-storey L-plan keep, with walls reaching some 3.3 metres thick, formed the stronghold’s core. Sir William Preston, who died in 1453, enclosed it within a courtyard wall set with round corner towers and machicolations, drawing on ideas he had encountered while travelling in France. An outer court followed in the early sixteenth century, adding a chapel and a doocot. Craigmillar’s best-known chapter came in 1566, when Mary, Queen of Scots convalesced here for a fortnight after illness; during her stay leading nobles agreed the so-called Craigmillar Bond, a pact to be rid of her husband, Lord Darnley, though her own part in it remains disputed. Sir John Gilmour bought the castle in 1660 and remodelled the west range, but his family later moved to nearby Inch House, and Craigmillar had fallen into ruin by 1775. It has been in state care since 1946 and is maintained today by Historic Environment Scotland.