Craigmillar Castle, Scotland

Craigmillar castle is a stones throw from the centre of Edinburgh, but never part of the city, this castle is often overlooked and overshadowed by the impressive castles of Edinburgh and Stirling, but genuinely, Craigmillar is one of Scotland’s perfectly preserved castles and historic building that is full with exciting discoveries which was in use for over 300 years.

The castle itself is absolutely fascinating to wonder around, with plenty of nooks and hiding holes to discover, but this was of course because it was inhabited for over 300 years where plenty of alterations were made. The first thing you’ll notice when entering the castle is the impressive castles entrance, honestly, this is what I think of when I think of a proper Scottish castle.

The castle was built in the late 14th century just as a simple tower house in its origins, making it one of the earliest tower houses in Scotland, it was Sir Simon Preston who built it after the Preston Family, also known as the Barons of Craigmillar, who were granted lands in the region by the Scottish King, Robert II. For its first 250 years, the castle served mainly as a comfortable fortified residence for the Preston Family, who were a prominent Edinburgh family in late medieval times. The courtyard was later added by Sir William Preston who drew inspiration from his time in France to bring back here to Scotland. In 1544, the castle was slightly damaged during the Burning of Edinburgh, in which Henry VIII and the Earl of Hertford, Edward Seymour had tried to attempt the marriage between the future Edward VI and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Craigmillar sits on the fringes of Edinburgh City and is a popular tourist and filming location, the filming of Outlander and Ivanhoe took place here. In Season 3, the castle serves as Ardsmuir Prison, where Jamie is imprisoned with the other Jacobites after the battle of Culloden, it’s amazing how recognisable the castle features are in the TV show.

A passage way leads into two ground floor cellar rooms, this was originally one large cellar which was divided up when a doorway was cut through the towers end wall to improve on-going access to the east and the west ranges. Overlooking the cellars here and they would have had a wooden ceiling, above another store room, after all a castle of this size would require a lot of supplies. The stone vault above the upper storage room gave structural stability to the tower house and reduced the all-important risk of fire.

The prison room was a very small and dank place, the door had a outward opening door which was quite the norm for a medieval prison and a latrine over the back with a small ventilation slit. During clearance work of the castle in 1831, an upright skeleton was found buried inside the wall. This room was not forgiving and would have been horrible to have had to stay there till you were called to court.

Our last part of visiting was to the courtyard and gardens, that provided a space where the family could relax and the servants would be out labouring. In its heyday this outer courtyard would have been crowded with stables, outbuildings and kitchen gardens, now only three structures remain, although stone corbels projecting from the walls indicate the existence of others. The building we have a quite peek into was constructed by the presons around the 1520s as their own private chapel. It is actually still the private burial place of the Gilmours.

We honestly believe that a trip to Craigmillar is equally as important and historically interesting when visiting the bustling city of Edinburgh and it’s one that you’ll go home and want to encourage others to visit too.

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