What is recorded here

Hawthornden Castle is a medieval castle in Midlothian, Scotland, where a 15th-century tower and a 1638 L-plan house still stand above man-made caves in the rock beneath. The Douglases held it before the Drummonds, Sir William Drummond of Hawthornden extended it, and writers have used the restored house as a retreat since the 1980s. The caves may have sheltered people long before the castle, perhaps even Robert the Bruce and Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie, according to local tradition.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Hawthornden Castle as Castle (medieval). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 1m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Hawthornden Castle was built in the 16th century by the Erskine family, a prominent Scottish noble family. It is remembered as the ancestral seat of the Earls of Buchan and for its historical association with Scottish literature, notably as the home of the poet Sir Walter Scott's friend, Lady Grizel Baillie.

The historic-place record does not grant public access. Check current conditions and ownership before entering land or a building.