Dunbar Castle

This month’s photos focus on views of Dunbar Castle with some historical and one contemporary view.

The photo above shows a crowd of people watching a Pierrot show at the foot of The Glebe, with the castle in the background. You can read more about Pierrots here. Note how well dressed the people watching appear to be. The Pierrot shows later moved to the Pavilion at Winterfield, which was known as the “Pierrot pavilion” at one time. This photo is likely to be late 19th or early 20th century. The activities on the Glebe may have changed but, of course, the view of the castle and rocks remains the same.

This photo shows the extent of the castle with the archway (closer photo below) still in place. At the harbourmouth, below where the Harbour Master’s office now stands, there was a tide guage, which was one of three built in the UK between 1913 and 1950. You can watch a video on the tide gauge below.

This photo shows the castle ruins when it was still possible to walk up the steps to the castle and look out to sea from the top. You could also look over the edge of the castle face and get a closer look at the kittiwakes which still nest there every summer. This, of course, was in the era before health and safety regulations were more rigorously applied. Note the wooden support which has been erected to shore up the topmost part of the ruins. The most interesting part of this photo is the archway which connected the main castle to the outlying parts, including the cannon tower. The photographer has captured a fishing boat, maybe awaiting the incoming tide. The archway collapsed in 1993 and for many local people it was a shocking event, having been used to seeing the castle as one structure.

The final photo in this sequence shows the castle and harbour wall after a heavy fall of snow. The photo is shown courtesy of Gary Fairbairn, Dunbar RNLI and it was taken on 31 December 2003. On the top of the castle, you can see the beacon which was erected for the Millenium and which was lit up by a burning arrow launched from the other side of the harbour mouth – or so it appeared. Despite the snow, one person came out to appreciate this rare view. For a short history of the castle, with good photos, see here.