📌 Gullane, East Lothian
★
Saltcoats Castle is a somewhat unloved ruin, standing amidst East Lothian farmland within easy reach of Gullane – and also accessed from our circular walk from Aberlady Bay. Its story starts with the Livingstone family, who probably built the castle late in the 16th century. The buildings were abandoned around 1800 and gradually dismantled for reuse as construction material in the decades after. Despite all this, two towers still survive to 4th storey level, with an impressive arch between them and walls extending in two directions. Auxiliary buildings can be glimpsed among the shrubs and trees, but access would be tricky without serious bush-clearing equipment. To sum up, this is a fairly substantial ruin, though overgrown vegetation makes it look smaller than it really is – get there soon before it’s covered up any further.
🌍 Location
📌 1 mi south of Gullane, off East Links Road
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NT 485819
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.027025,-2.827300
🚌 Bus to Gullane (0.5 mi)
🚗 Street parking on East Links Road, 🧭 NT 484825 / 🛰️ 56.032919,-2.829429
📝 Key info
⌚ Always open
🎫 Free
💬 From the end of East Links Road it’s a 10-min walk (each way) to the castle. Follow the edge of the golf course south to meet the track crossing it at the southern end. Turn right, soon joining the John Muir Way footpath, but then turn left onto a slightly overgrown track immediately after the houses end, with the castle just visible ahead. Narrow, overgrown footpaths access the courtyard (beware nettles).
