Tantallon Castle image, History, Date, Historic Scottish 14th-century fort building, North Berwick architecture
Tantallon Castle, East Lothian
Historic Scottish Building: East Lothian Architecture, semi-ruined mid-14th-century fortress in Scotland
post updated 15 February 2025
Location: 3miles east of North Berwick off the A198, East Lothian
Contact Tantallon Castle: 01620 892727
Address: North Berwick EH39 5PN
View of Tantallon from Seacliff beach to the southeast
Scottish mid-14th-century fortress photo © Adrian Welch
Tantallon Castle East Lothian
Tantallon Castle was built in the mid-14th century by the Red Douglasses. Set on the edge of the cliffs, looking out to Bass Rock, this historic building in East Lothian was a stronghold of the Douglas family. It features earthwork defences & a 50ft-high 14th-century curtain wall with towers.
Views of the fortress from the sea, looking south:
Scottish 14th-century building pictures © Adrian Welch
This mid-14th-century fortress was strengthened to resist artillery in the 16th century. The 8th Earl was the last of the Douglases to reside at the property. By 1650, the Castle had become an army base for raids against Cromwell during his advance on Scotland.
No larger image:
East Lothian fortress picture © Adrian Welch
Cromwell’s Covenanters, led by General Monk, took Tantallon in 1651 after twelve days bombardment: the castle was never inhabited again. The building has been state property – run by Historic Scotland – since 1924.
Contact / Admission Details
E-mail: [email protected]
This historic East Lothian building is closed Thursday afternoons and Fridays in Winter.
Buildings nearby include the Scottish Seabird Centre in Nortn Berwick
Context just to west of Tantallon Castle
photograph © Adrian Welch
Contact the operators of this East Lothian fortress building: +44 (0)1620 892727
Construction start: 1350
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Castles in East Lothian near to Hailes Castle
Historic Scottish Property Designs – key architectural selection below:
Lennoxlove House, south of Haddington, East Lothian
photo © Adrian Welch
Lennoxlove House
Dunbar Castle, East Lothian
Dunbar Castle
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Historic Buildings in Eastern Scotland
Hailes Castle, east of Haddington, East Lothian
Hailes Castle
Crichton Castle, ruined building near the village of Crichton, Midlothian
Midlothian fortress photo © Adrian Welch
Crichton Castle
HES website post for this property: semi-ruined mid-14th-century fortress near North Berwick
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Historic Scottish Building Designs – key architectural selection in Scotland below:
Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew Street, building design by Rennie Mackintosh Architect
photo © Adrian Welch
House for an Art Lover, Bellahouston Park, south west of the city centre
Comments / photos for the Tantallon Castle building – Scottish 14th-century fort near North Berwick architecture in southeast Scotland, United Kingdom, page welcome.
