Hawthornden Castle

Hawthornden Castle stands on a rocky promontory above the River North Esk in Midlothian. The site includes a ruined 15th-century tower and a 17th-century L-plan house that has been restored as a writer’s retreat. Beneath the castle lie man-made caves used long before the castle was built. The courtyard is roughly triangular, measuring about 24 metres long and 12 metres wide. A rib-vaulted pit prison remains beneath the tower, and a well once supplied the castle with water. The castle has belonged to the Abernethy family, the Douglases, and the Drummonds over seven centuries. The poet Sir William Drummond extended the house in 1638 and hosted Ben Jonson there in 1618. Later owners included Dr William Abernethy Drummond, Bishop of Edinburgh, who added family memorials in 1795. The castle passed through various hands until the mid-20th century, when it became a literary retreat under Drue Heinz. Visitors find a restored house with a library in the tower basement and a Renaissance-style doorway marked by the initials of Sir William Drummond and his wife. The cliffs below hold caves, one with 370 compartments for pigeons and another known as Wallace’s Cave. The setting along the river and the layered history make it a quiet yet striking place for writers and walkers alike.