Smeaton House

In 1450 the lands on which Smeaton Castle was built were the property of the Abbey of Dunfermline. Thereafter the house and lands passed to the Richardson family. The inhabitants of Smeaton, Inveresk, and Monktonhall complained about the Richardsons in 1581 to the Privy Council. By long tradition they were tenants of Dunfermline Abbey and they objected to the new "feu" of the lands obtained by the Richardsons from Mary, Queen of Scots. The villagers claimed that the Richardsons had undertaken not to disturb their rights and tenancies, but in fact had exacted higher rents. Archibald Douglas, 8th Earl of Angus died at Smeaton on 4 August 1588. His illness was attributed to witchcraft and…

The original castle courtyard was probably square with rounded towers; however, only the northwest (NW) and southwest (SW) towers still stand. Smeaton was converted from castle to a large house in the early/mid-18th century, with three building ranges and a formal entrance reached by external staircase to the upper level on the western range. This conversion was conceived and built to be a more habitable house to complement the formality of Dalkeith Palace itself and was named East Park House. A large surviving cedar tree nearby speaks to formal gardens planted at that time. This house was badly damaged at some point in intervening decades, presumably due to fire, and thereafter in the 19th…