Historic Sundays will run from October 1, 2023, through to March 3, 2024. Simply pre-book online and show your proof of address on arrival. Although many of the free tickets have already been snapped up for the October Historic Sunday, more tickets are due to be released for the coming months shortly. Visitors are advised by Historic Environment Scotland to keep up to date at their website.
5. Caerlaverock Castle
Caerlaverock’s triangular shape is unique among British castles. A walk around the castle gives a sense of its strength, economy of form and pleasing geometry. Three lengths of defensive curtain wall are linked at their three angles by high corner towers. On the north side is an impressive twin-towered gatehouse, where the Maxwells had their private rooms. Photo: HES Archive
6. Dirleton Castle
Dirleton Castle in East Lothian is one of Scotland’s oldest surviving strongholds. The 13th-century fortress was for 400 years a magnificent fortified residence to three successive noble families – the de Vauxs, Haliburtons and Ruthvens. The Ruthvens’ eventual downfall saw Dirleton abandoned as a noble residence. Oliver Cromwell’s 1650 siege then rendered it unfit for military use. But the castle was not forgotten. New owners the Nisbets bought the estate in the 1660s, turning the graceful ruins into an eye-catching feature in their new designed landscape. Today, both castle and gardens are attractions in their own right. Photo: HES Archive
7. Skara Brae
Skara Brae on the Orkney Islands is remarkable because of its age, and even more so for the quality of its preservation. Its structures survive in impressive condition – as does, incredibly, the furniture in the village houses. Nowhere else in Western Europe can we see such rich evidence of how our remote ancestors actually lived. Skara Brae became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney in 1999, in recognition of the site’s profound importance. Photo: HES Archive
8. Iona Abbey and Nunnery
Iona is a holy isle and has been described as the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. St Columba and 12 companions came here from Ireland in AD 563. The monastery they founded was one of the most important and influential in the British Isles. It sent missionaries to northern Britain to convert people to Christianity. Photo: Donald MacLeod