Craigmillar Castle History & Tour / Medieval Castle in Edinburgh Where Murder Plots Were Planned

Hello and welcome to Castles and Legends, or welcome back. Today we are up in Scotland in Edinburgh, well a couple of miles outside of the city centre at Craigmillar Castle. It's believed the medieval castle was completed by 1425 by the Preston family and it's really quiet here today. There's one other car in the car park so I'm hoping we're going to have the castle pretty much to ourselves which will be good so get some nice footage there. I can see it looks like there's a viewing platform up there. I'm not sure if you can see it just now so I'm thinking we're going to get some really nice views here too. The Preston family were first granted land in the area of Craigmillar by King David II in 1342 which entitled them to two-thirds of the Craigmillar estate. Just over 30 years later in 1374 King Robert II granted the remaining lands to Sir Simon the Preston. By this time the family name was well known in the area and to symbolise their power they began to build on the land. This first phase of construction which is believed to have been completed by 1425 consisted of a four-storey tower house which forms the centrepiece of the castle. The structure was primarily designed and built for residential purposes rather than defence but it was built on a rocky outcrop and had a few defensive qualities designed to deter marauders from entering. It had a traditional manor house configuration with storage on the ground floor, a grand hall on the first floor and plush bedrooms and accommodation on the upper floors. Constructed in an L shape the entrance led onto a stairwell which provided access to all levels. The design of a tower itself could well have been inspired from David's Tower at Edinburgh Castle which was built earlier in the middle of the 14th century. One member of the Preston family who became quite renowned in the area is Sir William Preston born in 1417 when he bequeathed to St Giles Church in Edinburgh a sacred arm bone of St Giles, the city's patron saint. William had apparently acquired the relic in France but how he did is unknown. When William died in 1453 he was buried at the church and in 1455 the council honoured him by building an additional isle at St Giles in his memory. Unfortunately the relic vanished at the reformation in 1560. Not all of the Preston family were quite so holy. In 1479 William's grandson Simon III was implicated in the murder of a member of the Royal Stuart House. King James III had a younger brother John Stuart, Earl of Mar, who James resented due to his popularity. James had John locked up following a dream where a witch had warned him that he would die at the hand of his nearest kin. Simon was tasked with holding John and brought him to Craig Miller Castle. It is not known where in the castle he was held but it would not have been in the basement prison due to his status. Some time later Simon arranged for John to be transferred to a house in Canongate in Edinburgh. It was here that shortly after his arrival he was found dead in the bath with his throat cut. King James III did not escape his premonition though but it was his own son James IV who was implicated in his downfall. Over the generations the Preston family added more additions to Craig Miller starting in the mid to late 15th century with an inner courtyard and wall that surrounded the tower house. The walls were thick with battlements, matriculations and round towers that had gun holes and were placed at each corner of the courtyard. Work continued through the 15th and 16th centuries with the construction of the East and West Ranges. The East Range was four stories high and connected to the tower via a corridor. It has many rooms and nooks and crannies and feels like quite a maze when exploring. The rooms included a bakehouse, storerooms, prison, kitchen, private chambers and what appears to be a gallery on the top floor. The West Range may have contained a great hall but what we see today is mostly the creation of a later owner John Gilmore in the 1600s. The outer court and walls were then constructed which were lower and thinner than the inner walls but encompassed a larger area and housed a chapel built in around 1520 and a dovecote and gardens. During the eight years war which lasted from 1543 to 1551 and was part of the Anglo-Scottish wars of the 16th century, King Henry VIII of England attempted to impose a forced marriage between Edward Prince of Wales and Mary Queen of Scots. During this time English troops under the Earl of Hertford sacked Edinburgh and proceeded to burn Craigmillar Castle. Sir Simon Preston had the castle repaired and took the opportunity to remodel some of the buildings in the courtyard. Sir Simon was a key supporter of Queen Mary and had been with her during her time in France. As a reward for his loyalty Queen Mary appointed him to the Privy Council. Queen Mary stayed at Craigmillar on more than one occasion as Scottish nobility did like to take a break from living in Edinburgh Castle or Holyrood. In 1566 Queen Mary came to stay at Craigmillar after falling ill following the birth of her son, the future James VI, and was in a state of depression. She came to seek rest and peace. It was during Mary's three weeks stay that a pact known as the Craigmillar Bond was made between the earls of Bobwell, Argyll and Huntley. It is not known if Mary knew about the arrangement but essentially it was a plot to dispose of her husband Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, who was a very unpopular person. It was originally intended that Darnley would be invited to stay at Craigmillar where the conspirators presumably would execute their plans. But Darnley decided against this, possibly sensing danger? Instead he stayed in his house in Edinburgh where he was found murdered in February 1567. Mary then married Bobwell who was involved in the plot to kill her previous husband. Whether this was her choice or she was forced to marry him is not known but the marriage caused problems for her and rebellions began to take place which eventually led to her downfall. By the early part of the 17th century the Preston family had begun to lose their prominence. Sir Robert Preston died in 1639 and Craigmillar was passed on to David Preston who was a distant cousin. David's son decided to sell the castle and it was bought by Sir John Gilmore in 1660. Gilmore was a royalist and very much in favour with King Charles II. When Charles was restored to the throne he was subsequently rewarded for his loyalty and became Lord President of the Court of Session in 1661. With his new status Gilmore went on to rebuild the west range and outer courtyard of the castle and provide additional accommodation through the 1660s. However by the mid 18th century the descendants of Gilmore found the castle to be unsuitable and the family left. By 1775 it was reported as ruinous and while there were plans drawn up to renovate the building for the use of Queen Victoria in the 19th century nothing came of it. In 1949 Sir John Little Gilmore entrusted Craigmillar Castle under the care and maintenance of the public body Historic Environment Scotland. Although Craigmillar Castle is classed as ruinous I believe it is one of the most intact castle ruins I have ever visited. If you were thinking the castle looks quite familiar it might be because it's been featured on the hit tv show Outlander and the Netflix movie Outlaw King. We have really really enjoyed visiting Craigmillar Castle here today. The ruins are like a maze and there's so much to go and look around up and down the views from the top there incredible. Some castles that are in a ruinous state there's not a great deal still to look around but here there is plenty lots of different levels different rooms it's amazing there plenty to explore. I really couldn't recommend this place enough and it's just so quiet and tranquil here. It is Monday so that could have something to do with it but yeah I would really recommend coming here lots of history and just beautiful. I hope you have enjoyed our video today please do give us a like a thumbs up and subscribe if you have not already and I hope to see you again on another adventure.