Dunbar Castle - Later History

Later History

The Castle remained the stronghold of the Earls of Dunbar until the forfeiture of George, Earl of March, in 1457, when the Castle was dismantled to prevent its occupation by the English. It was restored by James IV later in the century. The castle came under the control of the Duke of Albany and it was during this period that the bulwark to the west was built. It may have been designed by Antoine d'Arces, Sieur de la Bastie who was placed in charge of the castle in December 1514. Albany organised further repairs and amendments in July 1527.

The castle was burnt by the Earl of Shrewsbury on a punitive raid during the Rough wooing in 1548. Further re-fortifications in 1548 were directed by Piero Strozzi and Migiliorino Ubaldini. In May 1560 an Italian engineer was working on further improvements for the French garrison. These works were inspected by Robert Hamilton in Briggs, keeper of Linlithgow Palace and Master of the Royal Artillery, and Robert Montgomery in July 1560 on behalf of the Lords of the Congregation who reported that it was "more ample by the double than it was of before" and capable of holding 500 more soldiers. The new work was immediately demolished as a provision of the Treaty of Edinburgh. Local landowners were tasked with the demolition of part of a "rampire," a rampart with its ditch and counter scarp, and a great platform for artillery. However, the French captain of the Castle, Corbeyran de Sarlabous refurbished the cavern which was within the area scheduled for demolition. The Castle remained garrisoned by 60 French troops under the command of Sarlabous until September 1561.

Dunbar Castle was finally slighted by order of the Parliament of Scotland in December 1567, following the debacle at Carberry Hill. Dunbar and the fortress on Inchkeith were to be "cast down utterly to the ground and destroyed in such a way that no foundation thereof be the occasion to build thereupon in time coming." In September 1568 some of stone was selected for reuse at the quayside of the Shore of Leith.