| Tranent Tower | |
|---|---|
 The remains of Tranent Tower | |
| Location | Tranent, East Lothian GB grid reference NT404730 |
| Coordinates | 55°56′40″N2°57′15″W / 55.9445°N 2.9543°W Coordinates: 55°56′40″N2°57′15″W / 55.9445°N 2.9543°W |
| Designated | 15 January 1953 |
| Reference no. | SM778 |
  Location within East Lothian | |
Tranent Tower is a ruined L-plan tower house dating from the 16th century, in Tranent, East Lothian, Scotland. [1] The remains are protected as a scheduled monument. [2]
Tranent Tower was built on lands belonging to the Seton family in 1542, [1] and may have been built for them, but it was acquired by the Vallance family in the sixteenth century, who retained it until the nineteenth century. [3] At one time it may have been used as a barracks, [1] and in the early twentieth century as a hay loft. [3]
The small tower is at the end of a lane in the town of Tranent, which has grown up around it. The remains are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. [3]
There are two vaulted chambers in the basement. There is a main block of three storeys, and a four-storey stair-wing. It has a pantiled roof. The first floor included the hall. The tower is in a poor state of repair. [1] The stair-wing is at the south-west corner. The entrance is to the south, as are most of the windows. This suggests that there was a barmkin on this side, but there is no other evidence for this. [3]
The tower, which measures 11.2 by 7.6 metres (37 by 25 ft), [4] is constructed in buff and brown sandstone rubble. It is likely that there was a corbelled out watch-chamber at the head of the stair which was later made into a dovecote which had a single-pitch roof. There were crow-stepped gables. The roof was still pantiled in the mid-20th century, but this is unlikely to have been its original covering and the upper storey may have been considerably reworked.
There is a cross wall subdividing each floor. These walls appear to be early insertions. Probably there were earlier, less permanent, cross partitions. The hall has a large blocked fireplace, a lavabo, aumbries, and what may be a buffet recess in the north wall. [3]
Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1357). In the latter part of the 14th century, the castle was granted to William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, by his uncle. It remained in the Douglases' hands for the next 300 years. Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned there in 1567–68, and forced to abdicate as queen, before escaping with the help of her gaoler's family. In 1588, the queen's gaoler inherited the title of Earl of Morton, and moved away from the castle. In 1675, Sir William Bruce, an architect, bought the castle and used it as a focal point for his garden; it was never again used as a residence.
Crookston Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the Pollok area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is located some 5 miles (8 km) south-west of the city centre, on a hill overlooking the Levern Water, just before its confluence with the White Cart Water. Crookston Castle was built by the Stewarts of Darnley around 1400, and is set within earthworks constructed in the 12th century. Once the property of the earls and dukes of Lennox, the castle was extensively repaired following a siege in 1544, and it is the only surviving medieval castle in Glasgow.
Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is three miles (4.8 km) south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. The Preston family of Craigmillar, the local feudal barons, began building the castle in the late 14th century and building works continued through the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1660, the castle was sold to Sir John Gilmour, Lord President of the Court of Session, who breathed new life into the ageing castle. The Gilmours left Craigmillar in the 18th century for a more modern residence, nearby Inch House, and the castle fell into ruin. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument, and is open to the public.
Smailholm Tower is a peel tower at Smailholm, around five miles (8 km) west of Kelso in the Scottish Borders. Its dramatic situation, atop a crag of Lady Hill, commands wide views over the surrounding countryside. The tower is located at grid reference NT637346, just west of Sandyknowe farm, and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. In June 2007, it was awarded the maximum "five-star" status as a tourist attraction from VisitScotland, a rating bestowed on only eight other sites in Scotland.
Muness Castle is located on Unst, which is one of the Shetland Islands of Scotland. The castle is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) east of the village of Uyeasound. Unst is Scotland's most northerly inhabited island, and Muness is the most northerly fortalice in the British Isles. It was designated as a Scheduled monument in 1953 and is run as a museum by Historic Environment Scotland.
Carsluith Castle is a ruined tower house, dating largely to the 16th century. It is located beside Wigtown Bay in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, Scotland, around 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) south east of Creetown.
Roslin Castle is a partially ruined castle near the village of Roslin in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located around 9 miles south of Edinburgh, on the north bank of the North Esk, only a few hundred metres from the famous Rosslyn Chapel.
The remains of Burleigh Castle are located just outside the village of Milnathort, 1.5 miles north of Kinross, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The castle dates from the 15th and 16th centuries, and now sits beside the A911 road, opposite a 19th-century steading, recently adapted into housing.
Balgonie Castle is located on the south bank of the River Leven near Milton of Balgonie, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) east of Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. The castle keep dates from the 14th century, and the remaining structures were added piecemeal until the 18th century. The keep has been recently restored, although other parts of the castle are roofless ruins. Balgonie, excepting the tower which is used for residential purposes, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The Tower of Hallbar, also known as Hallbar Tower and Braidwood Castle, is a 16th-century tower house, located to the west of the River Clyde in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The tower is situated above the Braidwood Burn, 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south-west of Carluke, and 1.5 km (0.93 mi) east of Crossford. It has been restored and is let out as holiday accommodation.
Greenknowe Tower is a 16th-century tower house, located just west of the village of Gordon, in the Scottish Borders. Although a roofless ruin, the stonework of the tower is well preserved, and represents a fine example of a later tower house, built more as a residence rather than as a place of defence. The building is located at NT639428, beside the A6105 road. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is in the care of Historic Scotland.
Barholm Castle is a tower house located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Gatehouse of Fleet, in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway, Scotland. The tower dates back to the late 15th century, and it was a stronghold of a branch of the MacCulloch family. The present form of the castle dates from rebuilding in the 16th or 17th century, and in the early 2000s it was restored from a roofless state to residential use. The tower is sometimes identified with the fictional Ellangowan, in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering.
Aberdour Castle is in the village of Easter Aberdour, Fife, Scotland. Parts of the castle date from around 1200, making Aberdour one of the two oldest datable standing castles in Scotland, along with Castle Sween in Argyll, which was built at around the same time.
Ravenscraig Castle is a ruined castle located in Kirkcaldy which dates from around 1460. The castle is an early example of artillery defence in Scotland.
Affleck Castle, also known as Auchenleck Castle, is a tall L-plan tower house dating from the 15th century, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Monikie Parish Church, Angus, Scotland. It is a scheduled monument. It is not open to the public.
Garleton Castle is a courtyard castle, dating from the sixteenth century, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Haddington, just north of the Garleton Hills in East Lothian, Scotland.
Creich Castle is a ruined tower house near Creich, Fife, Scotland. The tower house and its associated buildings is a scheduled monument. There is a mention of a castle on the property in the 13th century, but it is uncertain what relationship that has to the existing structures. There is documentary evidence of a tower in 1553, but the existing structure either postdates that or has been heavily remodeled, judging by its architectural style.
Earlshall Castle is a restored 16th century courtyard castle, near Leuchars Station about 1⁄2 mile east of Leuchars, Fife, Scotland
Brims Castle is a ruined 16th century L-plan tower house on Brims Ness, Highland region, Scotland, to the south of the Pentland Firth, about 5 miles (8.0 km) north west of Thurso.
Plunton Castle is a ruined L-plan tower house between Kirkandrews and Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built around 1575 for the Lennoxes of Plunton, it passed by marriage to the Murrays of Broughton in the late 17th century. It was still inhabited in 1684, when it was described by Reverend Symson in his Large Description of Galloway as "a good strong house", but by 1838, when it was painted by George Colomb, it had been abandoned and had fallen into a ruinous condition.