Scotland · Restored
Hawthornden Castle
Hawthornden Castle sits on a rocky promontory on the south bank of the River North Esk near Roslin, Midlothian. It combines a 15th-century square tower and curtain walls with a 17th-century L-plan house forming a roughly triangular courtyard. Man-made caves in the cliff beneath the castle are part of the site.
Its prime
1638
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1638
The shape it held in its prime.
Perched on a rocky promontory above the River North Esk, the castle projects north-west in a roughly triangular courtyard (about 24m by 12m). A 15th-century three-storey square tower (c. 8m square) anchors the south-east corner and adjoins the south curtain wall whose windows indicate vanished ranges. The 17th-century L‑plan north range rises three storeys with an attic, chimneys and a gabled roofline, linked by a 16th-century entrance wall with a renaissance doorway and nearby gunports; caves perforate the cliff below; stone appears pinkish sandstone; fully built and occupied in 1638.
Step inside
10 places to explore in 1638.
The record describes 10 distinct spots at Hawthornden Castle — including 3 interiors: rib-vaulted pit prison beneath the tower, doocot cave in the cliff (interior), wallace's cave (nearby cave). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
See Hawthornden Castle with the fires lit.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1638 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →
