Photographs of Craigmillar Castle
Click on an image to see the full picture
Craigmillar Castle is about 3 miles south east of
Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle can been seen in the distance
from the roof.
The oldest part of the Castle still standing was built in the
late 14th Century. Like Edinburgh Castle, it is constructed on a
crag of rock. An L-shaped tower rises from the base of the
20 foot scarp to a height of 90 feet. It has four storeys
consisting a lobby and large basement on the ground floor,
lower loft and guard chamber on the first, great hall, kitchen
and closet on the second floor and upper loft and chamber on
the upper floor. There was a further chamber in the roof.
The curtain wall that surrounds the tower on three sides and
creates the inner courtyard was built about 50 years later.
In the 16th century more walls were built to form
the outer yard and east and west gardens and a new range of
buildings placed along the east side of the inner courtyard.
This is probably where Mary Queen of Scots stayed. Another
range on the west side was added later and the Castle remained
in use until the 18th century. It remains well preserved and is
worth a visit.
