Dalkeith House

Dalkeith House is a large multi-period mansion and palace which contains hidden within it the substantial remains of the earlier buildings of Dalkeith Castle.  Situated in the angle between the North and South Esk rivers, the associated great park extends throughout this area, once of great strategic significance.

Dalkeith was an extensive royal estate in the reign of David I, and in the reign of King William the manor was granted to Peter de Graham. The Grahams were powerful lords, and there can be no doubt that they erected a castle at Dalkeith. As landholders in Annandale they were supporters of Robert Bruce, but in 1306 John de Graham was within the party of the Comyns, and in 1307 was in the service of Edward I. He resigned himself to Bruce kingship in 1314, and in 1341 his son, another John, resigned Dalkeith back to King David II, who granted it to Sir William Douglas. Under the Douglases Dalkeith became the centre of a wide estate, and the family were ennobled as earls of Morton. The old L-shaped tower and courtyard was much extended through the 16th and 17th centuries before being sold, and after a period when Cromwell garrisonned it, the estate was repossessed by the Earl of Buccleuch. The whole building was extended and remodelled in the early 18th century for the Duchess, and it is this building that we can see today.

HES Canmore database entry
Official website of Dalkeith Country Park