Its subterranean Goblin Ha' is a rare surviving example of medieval Gothic vaulting, wrapped in centuries of local legend about its wizard builder.
Yester Castle stands ruined in the woods of East Lothian, a fortified seat raised before 1267 by Sir Hugo de Giffard, a lord of Norman descent whose family had held the barony of Yester since the reign of David I. What began as a stone keep was later rebuilt as an enceinte, a walled enclosure, after the Wars of Independence. Its most remarkable survival is underground: the vaulted chamber known as the Goblin Ha’, or Goblin Hall, whose Gothic ribs still stand complete beneath the collapsed walls above. The barony passed by marriage to the Hay family in 1357, and in 1487 John Hay was made first Lord Hay of Yester; his successor fell at Flodden in 1513. The castle was burnt during the Rough Wooing of 1544 and taken by an English force in 1548, before the Hays abandoned it around 1557 for a new tower house nearby. Its founder, remembered as the Wizard of Yester, was reputed a warlock, and legend held that hobgoblins built the castle through a pact with the devil. Sir Walter Scott drew on the tale in Marmion. Closed in 2021 after stone was stripped from its walls, the site remains fragile.
What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.
What to look for
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The Goblin Ha', the vaulted underground chamber that is the castle's only complete surviving structure
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The Gothic ribbed vaulting of the Goblin Ha', built to endure where the walls above have fallen
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The remains of the enceinte, the walled enclosure that replaced the original keep after the Wars of Independence
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The collapsed and robbed masonry above ground, reflecting the closure of 2021 after theft of load-bearing stone
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The wooded setting near Gifford, tied to the Hay lords who held it from 1357
Plan your visit
- Location
- General area near East Lothian, East Lothian
This is a sensitive or fragile site, so we show only its general area. Please check official heritage sources for access before visiting, and take care not to disturb it.
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