Craigmillar is a beast. It’s unlucky for it that a far more well known place is located within only a few miles, and that the more well known place is Edinburgh Castle which is both less historic and less awe-striking as well. Nevertheless, that is the situation right now and there’s little that can be done about “the Second Castle of Edinburgh” as some seem to call it.
Craigmillar is also located on a local high ground, much like its brother, though the high ground is less imposing on the surrounding nature. What it does do is give commanding views across much of the parkland and indeed make for a very good place for walks. One such walk is what took me there though actually I drove up to the front gate and then walked around the castle twice instead of walking up from Edinburgh proper.
This picture sums this countryside up quite nicely although added to this is that one would rarely think us to be in the middle of a considerable city here. Regrettably, the downside of this is also that while Edinburgh Castle is likely to be open at nearly any time, this one here might be closed in the wintery mid-week. And, this, exactly is what happened during my visit (and also explains why my walks were more around the place than into it).
Captured on my photo is the rear flank of the place more than the front, and it therefore misses one of the outer walls though what it does capture is this magnificent tree at the very back. This tree is indeed wonderful, and it is possible to get quite close to the wall here and to find some of the rear exists. It’s also possible to take a look out and to see where a lord carved his name into the field next to the castle — a sign of hubris or pride, one can determine for themselves!
