John Knox House

John Knox's House dates from the late 1400's and is the oldest house in the city. He lived there in the 1560's.

We didn't go inside, but it was a lovely house from the outside. And old, too, which helps.
I don't think that this is part of John Knox house, but it was in the same area and so I lumped it together. Mainly because there wasn't enough exciting information to warrant its own blog post.

Edit: This is the Canongate Tolbooth. It was built in 1591, and it was here that the tolls (or public dues) were collected. It also served as the council house, courtroom and prison for the Canongate, although most of the prisonners were transfered to a newly-built jail on Calton Hill.

The large clock face is dated 1820 and replaced an earlier clock from the 17th century. The Latin Inscription on the front of the building reads: "The place of the seal of the Burgh. For one's country and one's sucessors, 1591."

(It was located further down the Royal Mile, closer to Holyrood House).

Holyrood House and ruins

The Palace of Holyrood is mostly 17th C but has the ruins of the original abbey attached to it. Rood meaning cross, the abbey was named for a piece of the cross brought here as a relic by Queen Margaret.

Unfortunately it was closed but the guard didn't seem to mind too much if I poke my camera through the gate to snap photos.
Plus it was kind of expensive to get in, had we been there during opening times.

This is the aforementionned gate.

The tiny building, called 'Queen Mary's Bath House' is believed to have once been a garden cottage, where the royal family could rest when out walking.

There is a fascinating variety of ancient buildings surrounding this palace, some used for courtier's residences.

There are portions of King David's original Norman church within the abbey ruins, too, but we did not go into the grounds. The fountain in the courtyard is Victorian.

Edinburgh Castle

Welcome to Edinburgh Castle! Standing on the basalt core of an extinct volcano, this Castle is a group of buildings from the 12th to the 20th centuries. The original fortress was built by the 6th century Northumbrian King Edwin. Evidence has been found here of human settlement from the Bronze Age, about 900 BC.

There are stone statues of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce on the outside of the first Gatehouse (early 1900's).

The Portcullis Gate was built in 1573, and originally had four barriers - an iron portcullis and three pairs of wooden doors. You can still see the iron crooks on which the heavy doors were hung.
I'm not even sure this came from Edinburgh Castle, but he was cute and lumped together with all these pictures, so enjoy him.


The view from the top was pretty incredible.
The oldest building is the tiny St Margaret's Chapel, which was built around 1130 by David I as a private royal chapel.
His mother, Margaret was made a saint in 1250. See the arches in the tiny chapel - the zig zag pattern was a popular Norman (1100's) design. People still book this chapel for weddings!
Mons Meg is the huge cannon, made in 1449 for the Duke of Burgundy.
Yep, they had their own cemetery for their pets.

The Governor's House is from 1742, built for the castle governor.

The Great Hall was completed in 1511, though restored in the late 1800's. The Hammerbeam roof is medieval and original. The stone 'corbels' (carved shields, faces, emblems) that 'support' the wooden beams are Renaissance sculpture, the oldest in Britain.

You can see Scottish thistles, James's Arms, and the fleurs-de-lis among others.

There is also a National War Museum, Regimental Museums and the Royal Scot's Museum.

Deep beneath the Great Hall are two tiers of cavernous stone vaults which over the centuries have been put to all sorts of use - storerooms, prisons, barracks and bakeries. Prisoners of War were kept here and you can see their graffiti carved onto old wooden doors - including a ship with an American Flag (War of American Independence).

The Honours of Scotland are also housed here and include the Crown, Sceptre, Stone of Destiny and Sword of State. No pictures were allowed of course but they were fascinating to see. From 1651 to 1660, they lay buried to preserve them from Cromwell.

After the 1707 Treaty of Union they were locked away in the Crown room and in 1818 Walter Scott, had the room broken into and the oak chest forced open. He found them as they had been left 111 years later.

Did you know? The Stone of Destiny served as the seat on which the Scottish Kings were enthroned at Scone, near Perth. In 1296 Edward the Ist of England forcibly took it to Westminster Abbey in London, where it was enclosed in the Coronation Chair. On Xmas Day, 1950, four Scottish students 'removed' the Stone from Westminster Abbey and three months later it turned up 500 miles away at the front door of Arbroath Abbey. In 1996, it was formally returned to Edinburgh Castle.

The Royal Palace was the royal residence in the castle and this is where James the VI of Scotland who became James the I of England was born.

His mother was Mary Queen of Scots. Most of the features you see now date from 1615 to 1617.







The view from the bottom was almost as good as the view from the top. It's pretty incredible how high up the castle is. All in all it was well worth the visit.

Duddingston

Welcome to Duddingston Village and Kirk. We stopped here on the way back from Craigmillar Castlle (NOT Rosslyn Chapel as I had said earlier!)

The settlement dates from when Duddingston Kirk was built in 1124. It was founded by a Norman knight named Dodin (hence "Dodin's Town" - Duddingston - it's like playing a century-long game of 'telephone').
The Parish Church is located on Old Church Lane. It was gated and locked so we were unable to enter but it has two medieval relics at the graveyard gate.

One is a Joug, a metal collar for prisoners and the other a Loupin-on-Stane, a stone step for mounting your horse. There is also an early 19th C watchtower in the graveyard.

The entrance to the Kirkyard from the village is notable for its gatehouse, built as a lookout point to deter 'bodysnatchers' in the early 19th century.

They've got a pretty decent website, so check it out here.

Some more sights around Duddingston - a mural of some sort and the view over a hill.
Down the street, the Sheep Heid Inn is said to be Scotland's oldest pub, dating from 1360. It is named after a ram's head presented to the landlord by King James VI in 1580.

It would've been nice if the church had been open, but it was still a lovely stopover on the way back to Edinburgh.

Craigmillar Castle

Craigmillar Castle was truly one of the highlights of visiting Edinburgh. It's well worth the visit and super easy to get to from Edinburgh (super quick, too).

Here is the outline of the castle, as found on the interwebz. It might help give you an idea of the layout and when everything was built.
It is a ruined medieval castle located 3 miles southeast of the city on a low hill. It was begun in the late 14th century, and extended through the 15th and 16 centuries.
In 1660 the castle was sold to Sir John Gilmour, who made further altercations. The Gilmours left Craigmillar in the 18th century, and the castle fell into ruin.
It is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Scotland. The central tower house is surrounded by a 15th century courtyard wall. Within this are additional ranges, and the whole is enclosed by an outer courtyard wall containing a chapel and a dovecot.
The best part about Craigmillar is that you're allowed to go everywhere. Everywhere.
There's no arrows on the ground telling you where to go, no roped-off staircases, you can literally climb all the stairs and visit every nook. Makes for the best kind of exploring (and picture taking!). Plus, it was empty.
This is where there used to be a giant "P" shaped pool. The "P" was named after someone, but I can't remember who.
If you want extra details about the layout and specifics of the areas, visit the Wikipedia site here.
And there's my Mom! Isn't she happy! Here's what she had to say:

Awesome! One of Scotland's best preserved medieval fortresses. This was SO! much fun to explore - just like a castle should be. No holds barred, go where you want, poke into all the corners, too, while you are at it.

Leanna and I couldn't stop smiling! and our faces hurt so much afterwards (just like Barbie in Toy Story!) We loved it.

The castle began as a simple tower house residence, but developed into a complex of structures and spaces, as subsequent owners attempted to improve it.
This results in lots of nooks and crannies to explore. It was inhabited continuously for 350 years, starting when the tower house was built in the late 1300's by Sir Simon Preston.
The castle was owned by generations of the Preston family until the 1600's when Sir John Gilmour purchased it.
His descendents lived in the castle until the 1700's when they moved into a more modern house. A Gilmour descendent entrusted the castle in 1949 to state care but technically, the family still holds the barony.
My guidebook says they pay 2 Scottish pennies (when requested) for the Barony's rent (used to be the services of an archer but no one seems to need an archer these days).

Some random tidbits:

• A shield with three unicorns is the Preston Arms.
• Three writing pens on a modern plaque are the Gilmour Arms.
• There is also a shield with a lion and crown, which is the Royal Arms.
• Mary Queen of Scots stayed here several times between 1563 and 1566.

(She's better at the historics than I am, I'm just the picture-taker!)






Told you it was empty! There were maybe another 10 people in the whole castle while we were there. And you really could walk anywhere.



I like the shadow of the stone wall against the grass.


All in all easily my favorite castle so far. And one of the best (if not the best) sites in Edinburgh. Well worth the quick and cheap bus ride out to see it.