The Castles of Scotland by Martin Coventry | Goblinshead | A comprehensive guide to 4,100 castles, towers, historic houses, stately homes and family lands
The Castles of Scotland by Martin Coventry | Goblinshead | A comprehensive guide to 4,100 castles, towers, historic houses, stately homes and family lands
The Castles of Scotland
The Castles of Scotland 

Feature Articles

Full list of places in this section is to the menu on the left. Click on the name or on one of the photos below to load the page.

 

If your favourite castle or place is missing, of if you have any corrections or improvements, please let us know by emailing us.

Cockenzie House is a long but attractive plain mansion, dating from the 17th century and long held by the Cadell family, in beautiful gardens with a cafe, shop and gallery in the pleasant seaside town of Cockenzie and Port Seton on the banks of the Firth Cockenzie House (© Martin Coventry)
Ardmaddy Castle and Gardens, an attractive mansion on a rock in a beautiful spot with the fantastic walled garden, water garden and wooded grounds, near Oban in Argyll. Ardmaddy Castle and Gardens (© Martin Coventry)
Garden of Persistent Imagination, Monteviot House and Gardens, a large low house of the Kerr Earls of Lothian set in many acres of lovely gardens by the River Teviot. near Jedburgh in the Borders. Monteviot House and Gardens: Garden of Persistent Imagination (© Martin Coventry)
Kailzie Gardens features acres of colourful gardens and woodland, around the site of an old castle and then Kailzie House in a lovely spot, near Peebles in the Borders in southern Scotland. Kailzie Gardens (© Martin Coventry)
Seacliff beach near Seacliff House is an impressive ruinous mansion near the site of Scougall, the lands being held by the Scougall family, the Auchmutys and then the Colts, in a pretty spot above the magnificent sandy beach at Seacliff, near Tantallon an Seacliff: beach and Bass Rock (© Martin Coventry)
Inveresk Lodge, Inveresk House and the Manor House are several of the old mansions and houses in the pretty and tranquil village of Inveresk, near Musselburgh in East Lothian. Inveresk Lodge (© Martin Coventry)
Ardchattan House and Gardens, by Ardchattan Priory is an interesting ruinous old building by the mansion of Ardchattan House, long held by the Campbells, and featuring the pretty Ardchattan Gardens, standing by the shore of Loch Etive near Connel in Argyl Ardchattan: house and garden (© Martin Coventry)
View from Aberdour of Inchcolm Abbey, a well-preserved and picturesque complex of buildings on an atmospheric island off the cost of Fife in the Firth of Forth, Inchcolm Abbey: from West Beach, Aberdour (© Martin Coventry)
Kelso Abbey, once one of the most magnificent monastic buildings in Scotland, is now a shattered ruin in the Border burgh of Kelso. Kelso Abbey (© Martin Coventry)
Vogrie House, an attractive mansion set in beautiful landscaped ground, now Vogrie Country Park, latterly held by the Usher family and near Gorebridge in Midlothian in central Scotland. Vogrie House (© Martin Coventry)
Snowdrops in the woods, Smeaton Hepburn or Smeaton House, a property of the Hepburns, has been demolished but the lovely landscaped grounds and walled garden survive, now a garden centre and cafe, near East Linton in East Lothian in southeast Scotland. Smeaton Hepburn: snowdrops in the woods (© Martin Coventry)
Auldhame, a very ruinous but scenic old building, in a beautiful wooded spot above the beautiful beach of Seacliff, hart Tantallon and some miles from North Berwick in East Lothian in southeast Scotland. Auldhame (© Martin Coventry)
Finlaggan was a centre power of the mighty MacDonald Lord of the Isles, but little remains except some walls on two islands in a pretty spot in Loch Finlaggan on Islay in Argyll on the western seaboard of Scotland. Finlaggan (© Martin Coventry)
Tirefour Broch or Tirefour Castle, a ruinous but impressive Iron Age broch in a beautiful spot with spectacular views, on the east side of the scenic island of Lismore in Argyll on the western seaboard of Scotland. Tirefour Broch or Castle (© Martin Coventry)
Seton Collegiate Church, near Seton Castle, a large and impressive Adam mansion near the atmospheric Seton Collegiate Church built by the Seton family, near Tranent and Cockenzie and Port Seton in East Lothian. Seton Castle: Seton Collegiate Church (© Martin Coventry)
Dunglass Collegiate Church, a fine ruinous church dedicated to St Mary in a pretty spot, near to the site of Dunglass Castle and Dunglass House, a property of the Homes, Halls and Ushers, in landscaped grounds. Dunglass Castle: Dunglass Collegiate Church (© Martin Coventry)
Kindrochit Castle, a fragmentary ruinous old royal stronghold, said to have been finally destroyed because of plague, and in the village of Braemar in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Kindrochit Castle (© Martin Coventry)
The Lodge, North Berwick, an attractive grouping of whitewashed buildings in expansive gardens and public parkland, long held by the Dalrymples and in the popular seaside town of North Berwick in East Lothian in southeast Scotland. The Lodge, North Berwick (© Martin Coventry)
Statue of John Cowane, the founder of Cowane's Hospital and Guildhall, an atmospheric old building, endowed by John Cowane, a wealthy merchant to care for guild members who had fallen on hard times, in the historic burgh of Stirling. Cowane's Hospital and Guildhall: statue of John Cowane, who founded the establishment (© Martin Coventry)
Whitekirk has a fine and an  impressive old church, once a place of pilgrimage, along with the tower remodelled out of pilgrims' hostel, in the village of Whitekirk, a scenic and atmospheric part of East Lothian near North Berwick. Whitekirk: St Mary's Parish Church (© Martin Coventry)
Kilmun is a peaceful village by the Holy Loch some miles from Dunoon in Argyll and is home to the impressive Kilmun Parish Church, with a substantial tower and the mausoleum of the Campbells of Argyll. Kilmun: mausoleum, church and tower (© Martin Coventry)
Ladykirk: Ladykirk Church (© Martin Coventry)
Coldingham Priory was a rich monastic establishment but all the survives is the impressive choir of the former priory standing in a scenic location in the interesting graveyard with many old memorials in the picturesque village of Coldingham in Berwickshi Coldingham Priory (© Martin Coventry)
Prestongrange House, an impressive baronial mansion with old work in fine parkland grounds, held by the Kerrs, the Grants, then GrantSutties, and now the golf course of the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club (RMGC), near Prestonpans in East Lothian. Prestongrange House (© Martin Coventry)
Tullibardine Castle is the site of a large and important but now demolished old stronghold of the Murray family, by the fine Tullibardine Chapel, in a pretty peaceful spot near Auchterarder in Strathearn in Perthshire in central Scotland. Tullibardine: Tullibardine Chapel (© Martin Coventry)
Merchiston Castle (© Martin Coventry)
The Bass Rock is a large rock at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, with the remains of an old castle of the Lauders, later used as a prison and now home to many seabirds, near North Berwick in East Lothian in southeast Scotland. The Bass or Bass Rock: from North Berwick (© Martin Coventry)
St Bridget's Kirk at Dalgety is a fascinating old church with a domestic block at one end, built by the Setons, in a pretty wooded spot by the sea, near the new town of Dalgety Bay in Fife in central Scotland. St Bridget's Kirk, Dalgety (© Martin Coventry)
Dunbar Castle is a picturesque, once strong but now very ruinous old stronghold, built on rocky crags by the mouth of the harbour, besieged by the English in 1333 and associated with Mary Queen of Scots, by the harbour in the East Lothian burgh of Dunbar. Dunbar Castle (© Martin Coventry)
Castle Hill is the remains of the mound of a medieval castle once held by the Earls of Fife and then the Douglases, by the sea in the pretty seaside of North Berwick in East Lothian in southeast Scotland. Castle Hill, North Berwick (© Martin Coventry)
Foulden Tithe Barn: Foulden is a pretty village in Berwickshire in southeast Scotland, with the interesting 'tithe' barn, parish church and graveyard with old carved tombstones and the nearby site of Foulden Bastle, the property being held by the Ramsays, Foulden: Foulden Tithe Barn (© Martin Coventry)

New sixth edition in preparation: more than 1,500 additional sites, hundreds more illustrations, comprehensive online maps and indexes, and much much more.

Due for 2024, and still a huge amount of work to do … more info to follow soon.

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Cockenzie House
22 Edinburgh Road
Cockenzie

EH32 0HY

 

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Spring is here, Red tulips from Cockenzie House Spring is here…
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© Martin Coventry