Scotland · Restored
Niddry Castle
Niddry Castle is a sixteenth-century Scottish tower house (an L-plan, four-storey tower) near Winchburgh in West Lothian. Built around 1500 for the Seton family, it retains its tall rectangular tower block with corbelled parapet and an angle turret added in the 17th century; the building was restored in the 1990s and is a private residence.
First raised
1500
Its prime
1680
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1680
The shape it held in its prime.
A compact four-storey L-plan tower of coursed grey sandstone rubble and ashlar, rising as a tall rectangular block with a shorter wing forming the L. The wall faces are punctured by small rectangular and slit windows set deep in thick walls. A corbelled parapet runs around the roofline and a small turret occupies the re-entrant angle. The roof is steeply pitched and slate-covered; the base sits directly on a low grassy platform with traces of a surrounding barmkin wall.
Its story
The story of Niddry Castle.
Niddry Castle, near Winchburgh in West Lothian, was built around 1500 by the Lord Seton — historically Niddry Seton or West Niddry, to distinguish it from Niddry Marischal and Longniddry. It is an L-plan tower house of four storeys, its tall rectangular block finished with a corbelled parapet and a 17th-century angle turret.
George, Lord Seton garrisoned the castle for Queen Mary in 1572 during the civil war, the Edinburgh Castle garrison attacking Merchiston as a diversion in its support. Margaret Seton married Claud Hamilton here in 1574 with "great triumphs", and in May 1590 Peder Munk, Great Admiral of Denmark, stayed at Niddry with the Danish commissioners taking possession of Anne of Denmark's lands before riding on to Linlithgow.
Around 1680 the castle passed to the Hope family and became part of the Hopetoun estate; the Hopes, later Marquises of Linlithgow, were granted the additional title Baron Niddry in 1814. Left between two oil-shale bings beside the Union Canal, the tower was restored in the 1990s by Peter Wright and is once again a private residence.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1680.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Niddry Castle — including 2 interiors: vaulted basement, first-floor hall. 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
Recreate Niddry Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1680 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Niddry Castle.
The families that held Niddry Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Seton
Built by the Lord Seton around 1500 and held by the Setons until about 1680; garrisoned for Queen Mary in 1572.
Hope
Held by the Hopes from about 1680 as part of the Hopetoun estate; granted the title Baron Niddry in 1814.
