Tantallon Castle

A map of the area, dated to before 1300, shows a castellated site with the name of "Dentaloune", possibly a corruption of the Brythonic din talgwn or "high-fronted fortress". The barony of North Berwick, including Tantallon, was in the possession of the Earls of Fife at this time.

Tantallon is a unique construction within Scotland, the defences comprising only a single large wall securing a coastal promontory. The south-east, north-east, and north-west approaches are naturally defended by steep sea cliffs and were only ever protected by relatively small defensive walls. To the southwest, a massive curtain wall blocks off the end of the promontory, which forms the inner courtyard. The curtain wall is built of the local red sandstone and has a tower at each end and a heavily fortified gatehouse in the centre, all of which provided residential accommodation. A north range of buildings, containing a hall, completed the main part of the castle, enclosing a courtyard…

The Barony of North Berwick, surrounding Tantallon, stayed with the Earldom of Fife, but despite the Earl's claim, the castle passed outright into the Douglas family and was inherited by George Douglas, illegitimate son of the Earl of Douglas, who also inherited his mother's Earldom of Angus in 1389. This was the start of the division in the House of Douglas. Archibald the Grim became head of the main line, known as the "Black Douglases". George Douglas was the progenitor of the "Red Douglases". In 1397, George Douglas married Princess Mary Stewart, daughter of King Robert III of Scotland, allying the Red Douglases with the Royal House of Stewart. From 1425 to 1433, Isabella, Countess of…

The ruins of Tantallon Castle are featured in the 2013 thriller Under the Skin from British director Jonathan Glazer. Actors Scarlett Johansson and Michael Moreland are depicted on the roof, then cautiously descending the narrow inside staircase. Said the film's location manager Eugene Strange, "We always felt the castle had to be coastal, because we wanted them to be buffeted on the ramparts up there...and it felt quite overwhelming for her...It was epic when we found it. The views from there!" In the fourteenth episodes of Series 11 and 12 of Raven as well episodes 2 and 3 of the Gaelic miniseries "Fitheach", it served as the location for the challenges "Warrior's Wall" and "Stones of…