Tantallon Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tantallon Castle |
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| East Lothian, Scotland OSGB grid reference NT596851 |
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Approach to Tantallon from the south
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 Tantallon Castle
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| Coordinates | 56°03′23″N 2°39′02″W / 56.0564°N 2.6506°W |
| Type | Castle of enceinte |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Historic Environment Scotland |
| Controlled by | Earl of Angus |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Site history | |
| Built | c.1350 |
| Built by | William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas |
| In use | Until 1650 |
| Materials | Stone |
Tantallon Castle is an amazing ruined fortress from the mid-1300s. It's located about 5 kilometers (3 miles) east of North Berwick in East Lothian, Scotland. The castle sits on a high piece of land that sticks out into the sea, looking out towards the Bass Rock and the Firth of Forth.
Tantallon is special because it was the last "curtain wall" castle built in Scotland during the Middle Ages. This means it had one huge wall blocking off the land side. The other three sides were naturally protected by tall sea cliffs.
William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, a powerful Scottish lord, built Tantallon Castle in the mid-14th century. It later went to his son, George Douglas, who became the Earl of Angus. Even though it faced many attacks, the castle stayed with his family for a long time.
Kings James IV and James V both attacked Tantallon, causing a lot of damage. The castle also saw fighting during the First Bishops' War in 1639 and when Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1651. After Cromwell's attack, the castle was badly damaged and left in ruins. Today, Historic Environment Scotland looks after this historic site.
Contents
How Tantallon Castle Was Built
Tantallon Castle is very unique in Scotland because of its design. Its main defense was a single, massive wall that protected the castle from the land side. The other sides were naturally safe due to steep sea cliffs. These cliffs only needed smaller walls for protection.
The huge wall facing the land is called a curtain wall. It blocked off the end of the land, creating the castle's inner courtyard. This wall was built from local red sandstone. It had a tower at each end and a strong gatehouse in the middle. These towers and the gatehouse also had living spaces inside.
A row of buildings on the north side, including a great hall, completed the main part of the castle. This created a courtyard about 70 by 44 meters (230 by 144 feet) in size. In total, the castle buildings offered about 1,100 square meters (11,840 square feet) of living space.
Tantallon is a "castle of enceinte" or a curtain wall castle, similar to older castles like Bothwell and Kildrummy. It was the last of its kind built in Scotland. Smaller tower house castles were becoming more popular around this time.
The Great Curtain Wall
The curtain wall is over 15 meters (50 feet) high, 3.6 meters (12 feet) thick, and about 90 meters (300 feet) long. Inside the wall, there are small rooms and stairs with arched ceilings. These stairs lead up to the parapet walk, which is a walkway along the top of the wall. From here, defenders could look out and shoot. This walkway connects the three main towers.
The tower on the northwest side is called the Douglas Tower. It was round and about 12 meters (40 feet) across, though part of it has fallen down. This tower was seven stories high and likely served as the lord's private living area, like a keep. It also connected to the great hall. The very bottom floor was a pit prison. The rooms above had wooden floors and private toilets called garderobes.
The East Tower is shaped like a "D" with the curved side facing outwards. It's about 9 meters (30 feet) across. It originally had five stories. After the 1528 attack, the bottom three floors were changed into two, with stone arches added. Large gun ports, or holes for cannons, were also added in the basement at this time.
The central gatehouse tower is square, about 13 meters (43 feet) across, and up to 24 meters (79 feet) high. It had four stories of rooms, some with fancy fireplaces, but the inside walls and floors are now gone. The main entrance went through a passage underneath. This passage was protected by a drawbridge, three sets of doors, a portcullis (a heavy metal gate), and machicolations. Machicolations were holes in the ceiling that allowed defenders to drop things like stones or hot liquids on attackers below.
The gatehouse also had two small corner turrets called bartizans facing the courtyard. A spiral staircase from the 16th century here leads up to the top of the curtain wall. The entrance was first a pointed archway with round towers on either side. An outer gate, or barbican, was added in the early 14th century but was destroyed in the 1528 attack. After this attack, the front of the gatehouse was rebuilt with more gun ports and a narrower entrance. This rebuilding made the tower's corners rounded for extra strength.
The Inner Court
The north range of buildings, about 10 by 40 meters (33 by 131 feet), is connected to the Douglas Tower. The western part is from the 14th century and includes the remains of the great hall, where the lord would have eaten. Below it was a lower hall for workers, which was later divided into cellars. You can still see where the hall's sloped roof met the Douglas Tower.
The eastern part, from the 16th century, had a bakehouse and more private rooms. Part of it has fallen into the sea. Only a small section of other walls remains to the east. This section has a postern gate, a secret exit that led to the sea through a gap in the cliffs below. The castle's well is 32 meters (105 feet) deep and was dug out again in the 1800s.
The Outer Court
Next to the curtain wall is a deep, rock-cut ditch. About 100 meters (330 feet) further out is a second, larger ditch. This area between the ditches is the castle's outer court. Inside the outer ditch are two mounds. Some experts think these might hide 16th-century caponiers, which are defensive positions that allow defenders to fire along the trench.
A stone-fronted mound used to run along the outside of the ditch. Only a 30-meter (98-foot) section of this outer wall remains at the south end, ending in a two-story round tower. This tower, with its gun ports, was built before the 1528 attack. It might have been inspired by new artillery defenses at nearby Dunbar Castle. The only building in the outer court is a 17th-century "lectern" type doocot, which is a pigeon house. Beyond the outer ditch, there's a 17th-century ravelin, a triangular earth defense for cannons, and the remains of a third, smaller ditch.
Castle History
An old map from before 1300 shows a castle-like place called "Dentaloune." This name might come from an old Celtic language, meaning "high-fronted fortress." At that time, the land around Tantallon belonged to the Earls of Fife.
Early Days of the Castle
In 1346, William Douglas (around 1327–1384) came back to Scotland from France. He was the nephew of Robert the Bruce's friend, Sir James Douglas. William became the leader of the powerful Douglas family. He was made the Earl of Douglas in 1358.
It's not fully clear how Douglas got Tantallon. But in 1374, he called it "our castle of Temptaloun." He might have been given the castle to look after. It seems he built the current castle around the time he became an Earl to show off his new high status. It was meant to be a symbol of power.
Tantallon was home to William Douglas's sister-in-law and mistress, Margaret Stewart, 3rd Countess of Angus. She was the mother of his son, George Douglas (1380–1403). In 1388, when the 2nd Earl of Douglas died, George Douglas was recognized as the Earl of Angus.
The Red Douglases
The castle passed to George Douglas, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Douglas. He also inherited his mother's title, Earl of Angus, in 1389. This created a split in the Douglas family. George Douglas's line became known as the "Red Douglases."
In 1397, George Douglas married Princess Mary Stewart, the daughter of King Robert III of Scotland. This marriage connected the Red Douglases to the Royal House of Stewart. Over the years, Tantallon held important prisoners, including Alexander, Lord of the Isles, in 1429.
The 3rd Earl of Angus (1426–1446) made Tantallon his main home. He rebelled against the king from 1443 until his death. In 1452, King James II gave Tantallon to the 4th Earl of Angus. This Earl led the royal forces that defeated the "Black Douglases" at the Battle of Arkinholm in 1455.
Archibald "Bell-the-Cat" (1453–1514), the 5th Earl, turned against the Royal family in 1482. Around 1490, he made a secret deal with Henry VII of England against James IV of Scotland. On October 11, 1491, James IV attacked Tantallon Castle with cannons. However, Angus gave up, and the castle was not badly damaged.
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The Attack of 1528
In 1514, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (1490–1557) married Margaret Tudor. She was the widow of James IV and the mother of the young King James V. Angus tried to take the young King to England, which started a civil war.
In 1525, Angus, with help from Henry VIII of England, took control of the young King and became Chancellor. But in 1528, the sixteen-year-old James V escaped. He joined his mother at Stirling and declared Angus a traitor, banishing him. Angus instead went to Tantallon and made his stronghold stronger.
On October 23, 1528, King James V attacked Tantallon. Angus's servant, Simon Penango, defended the castle. King James borrowed cannons from Dunbar Castle. The castle was bombarded for 20 days. However, the King's cannons couldn't get close enough to the walls to cause much damage because of the deep outer ditch.
The King stopped the attack and went back to Edinburgh. Then, Angus counterattacked and captured the King's cannons! Angus wrote that James V had brought Scottish and French engineers, but they couldn't capture the castle. In May 1529, Angus fled to England, leaving the castle to James. Simon Penango surrendered the castle.
To fix the damage from the attack, the King began rebuilding and strengthening the castle. The front of the gatehouse was rebuilt, and the East Tower was made stronger. Wide gun holes were added to the landward walls of the tower, and a crenellated parapet (a protective wall with gaps for shooting) was added to the curtain wall. To make the great landward curtain wall even stronger, several rooms and passages inside were filled with stone.
The Rough Wooing
When Angus returned in 1542, he was still in touch with Henry VIII. He allowed Sir Ralph Sadler, the English ambassador, to stay at Tantallon. This was during talks to arrange a marriage between the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, and Edward, Prince of Wales.
It's said that when the Earl of Hertford invaded Scotland in 1544, Tantallon was not attacked because of Angus's English connections. However, Hertford wanted to put an English army in Tantallon but couldn't agree with the castle's keepers. Tantallon was also left alone in 1547. Angus was later imprisoned and then changed sides to support Scotland.
Later 16th Century Events
Angus died at Tantallon in January 1557. The castle was then taken by the army of Queen Regent, Mary of Guise. Simon Preston was made keeper, and repairs were done the next year.
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton took control in 1565. But the next year, Mary, Queen of Scots, gave the castle to Robert Lauder of the Bass. Mary herself visited Tantallon in November 1566.
After the 8th Earl died in 1588, the Earls of Angus usually lived elsewhere and didn't have much to do with Tantallon Castle. In 1592, a list was made of the castle's furniture and weapons. In July, James VI took control of the castle. In September 1596, the captain of Tantallon, Stephen Bruntfield, was killed.
17th Century Battles
After a peaceful time, Tantallon saw fighting again during the Bishops' Wars in 1639. The Douglas family had remained Catholic after the Scottish Reformation. This angered the Presbyterian Covenanters, who opposed King Charles I's attempts to change the Scottish Church. In 1639, the Covenanters captured Tantallon.
In 1650, during the Third English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell's forces invaded Scotland. In February 1651, Cromwell's supply lines were attacked by a small group of Royalists based at Tantallon. This group, led by Alexander Seton, had only 91 men.
Despite the small number, Cromwell sent 2,000 to 3,000 troops under General Monck, along with many cannons, to attack Tantallon. After twelve days of constant cannon fire, a hole was made in the Douglas Tower. The defenders had to surrender, but they were given a safe passage out because of their bravery. After this attack, Tantallon was left in ruins. It was never repaired or lived in again.
In 1651, the castle's dungeon was used to hold captured English sailors. Their ship was carrying supplies like boots, saddles, and beer for the English army.
Later History
James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas, who was also the 12th Earl of Angus, had to sell his lands because of gambling debts. The ruins of Tantallon were sold in 1699 to Sir Hew Dalrymple. He owned other properties nearby. Dalrymple allowed the castle to fall apart even more, and some of its stones were even used for other buildings.
Sir Walter Scott wrote a long poem about the castle in 1808 called Marmion. Some repairs were done by the Dalrymple family in the late 1800s. In 1924, the castle was given to the UK Government's Office of Works.
In 1944, Tantallon Castle played a secret role in preparing for the Normandy invasion (D-Day). Weeks before D-Day, captured German radar systems were brought to the castle. Here, they were used to train RAF bomber crews, including the famous "Dambusters" (617 Squadron).
The training involved dropping thin strips of aluminum foil from bombers in specific patterns. This was meant to create a false image on German radar, making it look like huge naval fleets were approaching, even though they weren't there. This trick, perfected near Tantallon Castle, was used on the night of June 5–6, 1944, off the coast of France, to fool the Germans about where the real invasion would happen.
Today, Tantallon Castle is looked after by Historic Environment Scotland as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Ghost Stories
In modern times, there are several ghostlore stories about the castle and the area around it.
Images for kids
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Tantallon Castle painted by Alfred Baxter in 1926
See also
In Spanish: Castillo Tantallon para niños
