Tantallon Castle

Another ‘Edinbugh and around’ post from the February break - Tantallon Castle. We have passed it many times on the way to places im East Lothian but had never actually gone. The boys have houses at school, named after street names near the school, and the boys are in Tantallon, so they were keen to go.

Tantallon Castle was built in the 14th century as a fortress, but was demaged through various attacks in the 16th century and eventually completely destroyed by Oliver Cromwell to the ruin you see now in 1651. The Castle itself is now actually closed for masonry maintenance, so you can only go into the grounds, but it does mean that it’s free, and you avoid what can be some fairly excessive entry prices for similar ruins looked after by Historic Environment Scotland. The real attraction is the location really, it’s right opposite Bass Rock with beaches on either side, and on a beautiful day like that day it can be pretty stunning. There’s also a nice view of the Castle from below from Seacliff beach, although we didn’t go there this time.

Please enjoy all these picture featuring the (unedited) blue winter sky!