Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle was built in the mid-1300s by a nobleman at the height of his power. In 1354, William Douglas came into possession of all his father’s lands, as well as those of his uncle, ‘the Good Sir James of Douglas’, a close friend of King Robert the Bruce. The estates included the barony of North Berwick. In 1358 William was created Earl of Douglas, by which date the masons may already have begun to build his new stronghold.In the 1380s the dynastic house of Douglas split into two branches, known as the ‘Black’ and the ‘Red’. Tantallon passed to the junior line, the ‘Red Douglases’, earls of Angus. For the next 300 years, the earls of Angus held sway at the Tantallon castle. They were one of the most powerful baronial families in Scotland Tantallon’s plan differs from most comparable castles only because of its situation, at the edge of a promontory. Although the curtain wall enclosed the entire site, the castle only needed formidable defences along its landward side. Its great curtain wall of red sandstone still stands remarkably complete, as do the three towers in which the mighty earls of Angus lived. www.historic-scotland.gov.uk Iconic landmark Tantallon Casle fly over with the equally Iconic Bass Rock as a backdrop.