Dirleton is a village and parish in East Lothian

East Lothian

East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 approximately 20 miles (32.2 km) east of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 on the A198. It contains 7500 acres (30.4 km²). Dirleton lies between North Berwick

North Berwick

The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...

 (east), Gullane

Gullane

Gullane is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the 9th century. The ruins of the Old Church of St...

 (west), Fenton Barns

Fenton Barns, East Fenton and West Fenton

The hamlets of Fenton Barns, East Fenton and West Fenton make up a rural community in East Lothian, Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and close to the settlements of North Berwick, Drem, Dirleton and Gullane....

 (south) and the Yellowcraigs

Yellowcraigs

Yellowcraigs, less commonly known as Broad Sands Bay, is a coastal area of forest, beach and grassland in East Lothian, south-east Scotland. Yellowcraigs is designated as a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest...

 nature reserve, Archerfield Estate and the Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

 (north). Gullane parish was joined to Dirleton parish in 1612 by an Act of Parliament because "Golyn (as it was anciently spelt) is ane decaying toun, and Dirleton is ane thriven place."

Locale

Dirleton has two hotels, The Castle Inn which looks on to the village green and The Open Arms Hotel. Other visitor attractions today include the Dirleton Gallery, Archerfield Links recently built with two 18-hole golf courses and hotel.
The church (presumably built soon after the move of the parish in 1612) and manse (1708) of Dirleton stand immediately to the north of the village in a beautiful situation. The church has extensive Victorian renovations (1836 including the ornate tower), and a churchyard. it has a population of about 3300. The churchyard contains an odd stone of 1746 to a George Seton, including two stern-faced mermaid

Mermaid

A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...

 caryatids. The school is by J A Carfrae (1910) who built many Edinburgh schools. Trinitarian friars

Fail Monastery

Fail Monstery, occasionally known as Failford Abbey, had a dedication to 'Saint Mary', and was located at Fail on the bank of the Water of Fail, Parish of Tarbolton near the town of Tarbolton, South Ayrshire...

 had a friary here prior to the reformation.

Castle

Dirleton is notable for Dirleton Castle

Dirleton Castle

Dirleton Castle is a medieval fortress in the village of Dirleton, East Lothian, Scotland. It lies around west of North Berwick, and around east of Edinburgh...

, a well-preserved medieval fortress, which today belongs to Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...

. It is the caput

Caput

The Latin word caput, meaning literally "head" and by metonymy "top", has been borrowed in a variety of English words, including capital, captain, and decapitate...

of the feudal barony of Dirleton, said to be one of the oldest in Scotland (This barony did not, however, cover the entire parish). It was built in the middle of the twelfth century by a branch of the Anglo-Norman family of De Vaux, a family with its origins in Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

, Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

, which had settled at Dirleton during the reign of King Malcolm IV (1153–1165). They also held the manor of Golyn (Gullane

Gullane

Gullane is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the 9th century. The ruins of the Old Church of St...

) and parts of the lands of Fenton. In 1225 it is described as a "castellum". In 1298 when King Edward I of England

Edward I of England

Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

 invaded Scotland, no place was able to resist him except Dirleton castle. After a resolute resistance it surrendered to forces under Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham. It was still in English possession in 1306. When Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 invaded Scotland in 1650 the castle was, after a gallant defence, taken by Lambert and by him partially dismantled and reduced to its present ruinous state.

The heiress of William de Vaux, Lord of Dirleton, brought the barony and estates to her husband, Sir John de Haliburton, about 1430. Their grandson, Sir Walter de Haliburton

Walter de Haliburton, 1st Lord Haliburton of Dirleton

Sir Walter de Haliburton, 1st Lord Haliburton of Dirleton was Lord High Treasurer of Scotland.The eldest son of Sir John Haliburton of Dirleton, East Lothian , by his spouse Margaret, daughter of Sir John Cameron, Sir Walter was one of the hostages for King James I on March 28, 1424 and was...

, High Treasurer of Scotland

Treasurer of Scotland

The Treasurer was a senior post in the pre-Union government of Scotland, the Privy Council of Scotland.The full title of the post was Lord High Treasurer, Comptroller, Collector-General and Treasurer of the New Augmentation, formed as it was from the amalgamation of four earlier offices...

, was created a Lord of Parliament

Lord of Parliament

A Lord of Parliament was the lowest rank of nobility automatically entitled to attend sessions of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland. Post-Union, it is a member of the lowest rank of the Peerage of Scotland, ranking below a viscount...

 in 1447. This family failed in the male line and an heiress took Dirleton to her husband, Lord Ruthven, grandfather of the Earl of Gowrie

Earl of Gowrie

Earl of Gowrie is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, both times for members of the Ruthven family. It takes its name from Gowrie, a historical region and ancient province of Scotland. On 23 August 1581 William Ruthven,...

 who was forfeited in 1600. The barony then graduated to a number of proprietors during the corrupt 17th century. Finally, Sir John Nisbet, Lord Dirleton

John Nisbet, Lord Dirleton

John Nisbet, Lord Dirleton was a Scottish judge.Admitted as an advocate in 1633, he was sheriff-depute of Edinburghshire from 1639. He defended James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose in 1641. He was appointed Lord Advocate and raised to the bench with the judicial title Lord Dirleton in 1664. He...

 (d. 1688), a Senator of the College of Justice

College of Justice

The College of Justice is a term used to describe the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies.The constituent bodies of the supreme courts of Scotland are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, and the Accountant of Court's Office...

 acquired it in 1663 and the barony remained with this family into the 20th century. In 1923 the Nisbet

Nisbet

-Places:Canada:*Nisbet Provincial ForestUnited Kingdom:*Nisbet, East Lothian*Nisbet, Roxburghshire*Nisbet, South Lanarkshire*Nisbet House, BerwickshireUnited States:*Nisbet, Pennsylvania-See also:*Nisbeth*Nisbett...

 family donated the castle to Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...

.

In the late 20th century this feudal barony was purchased by one Patrick Hannigan, from Savaldor in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, who subsequently bequeathed the barony to the present baron of Dirleton, Camilo Agasim-Pereira of Fulwood and Dirleton. He was later confirmed as such by disposition recorded in the Land Register of Scotland on April 22, 2002. Since the Abolition of Feudal Tenure, etc (Scotland) Act 2000, which abolished feudal dues and the legal jurisdiction of the Baron, all Baronies have now been separated from the caput (or Land), but this has not affected the dignity of Baron. The site of the Barony of Dirleton today is Lamb Island

The Lamb (island)

The Lamb, sometimes called Lamb Island or just Lamb, is a small , uninhabited island between the islands of Fidra and Craigleith in the Firth of Forth, off the south-east coast of Scotland...

 which was owned by the Barony of Fulwood Trust but has recently been sold to Uri Geller

Uri Geller

Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...

.

Congalton

The feudal barony of Congalton gave its name (or vice versa) to a very ancient family that subsisted in a part of Dirleton parish for twenty generations in the male line. The first on record, Robert de Congaltoun, witnessed a charter of Richard de Morville

Richard de Morville

Richard de Morville , succeeded his father Hugh de Morville as Constable of Scotland and in his Scottish estates and English lands at Bozeat in Northamptonshire, and Rutland, as well as a number of feus of the Honour of Huntingdon....

, Constable of Scotland, circa 1162. However, whether or not the family were then the lairds is called into question by the burial at North Berwick in May 1311 of Sir Robert de Lawedre (Lauder), where the inscription stated: "here lies the good Robert Lauedre the greate Laird of Congaltoun and The Bass Maii MCCCXI". Sir John de Congaltoun of that Ilk appears to be in possession as laird just a few years later when he recorded a mortification dated December 13, 1314.

The elder branch of the family succeeded through heiresses to the estates of Hepburn of Keith, in Humbie

Humbie

Humbie is a hamlet and rural parish in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies in the south-west of the county, approximately 10 miles south-west of Haddington and 15 miles south-east of Edinburgh. Humbie as we know it today was formed as the result of the union between Keith Marischal and Keith Hundeby in...

 parish, and Riccart of Riccarton, in Kincardineshire

Kincardineshire

The County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns was a local government county on the coast of northeast Scotland...

. Robert Hepburn Congalton of Keith and Congalton, the 18th generation of the family, sold Congalton to his brother who became Charles Congalton of that Ilk (d. Jan 1742) who had married Janet (1671–1751), daughter of Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall

John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall

Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, 2nd Baronet, Lord Fountainhall was one of Scotland's leading jurists who remains to this day an oft consulted authority...

. They had William Conglatoun of that Ilk who also had issue. The last of the direct male line, who died in 1804, was buried with his ancestors in the church of Golyn (Gullane

Gullane

Gullane is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the 9th century. The ruins of the Old Church of St...

).

Islands

Three islands, Fidra

Fidra

Fidra is an uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth, north-west of North Berwick, on the east coast of Scotland.-Geography:...

, Ibris, and the Lamb, belong to the parish of Dirleton. Fidra is the largest, directly opposite the village, and a mile from the shore. Upon it there was once the castle of Tarbet, a possession of the Congalton family. There was also here St. Nicholas's Priory, dating from 1165, the ruins of which still exist. The monks had a ferry from the island to the mainland, from which the farm of Ferrygate takes its name.

Elbottle

A Saxon word signifying "the old dwelling", Elbottle is also within Dirleton parish. Near Archerfield House there was a convent of Cistercian nuns

Cistercian nuns

Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church.-History:...

, probably in connection with the large Cistercian nunnery at North Berwick

North Berwick nunnery

St. Mary's Priory, North Berwick, was a monastery of nuns in medieval East Lothian, Scotland. Founded by Donnchad I, Earl of Fife around 1150, the priory lasted for more than four centuries, declining and disappearing after the Scottish Reformation...

. The Lauder family held lands here also. James Lauder (d. 1631), a great-great-grandson of Robert Lauder of The Bass (d. June 1576) held three husbandlands (78 acres) plus 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) in Elbottle. His sister Alison was wife to the Minister at Gullane

Gullane

Gullane is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the 9th century. The ruins of the Old Church of St...

, the Reverend Andrew McGhie.

Radar Station

The radar station at lies just to the north of Dirleton and is one of a handful of Second World War GCI (Ground-controlled interception

Ground-controlled interception

Ground-controlled interception an air defense tactic whereby one or more radar stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was pioneered during World War II by the Royal Air Force with the Luftwaffe to follow closely...

) Radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 complexes that have survived demolition. In the early 1940s it was a site for mobile control and aerial trailers, but because of the continued incursion of night raiders more sophisticated equipment was required to direct friendly fighter aircraft to the enemy and the earlier Chain Home

Chain Home

Chain Home was the codename for the ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the British before and during the Second World War. The system otherwise known as AMES Type 1 consisted of radar fixed on top of a radio tower mast, called a 'station' to provide long-range detection of...

 radar network needed to be augmented. The latter was designed to detect incoming waves of German aircraft during daylight and direct British fighters to a point where they could make visual contact (ie. within a mile or so). In darkness, however, central command had to direct night fighters to within hundreds of metres in order to engage the enemy and the station at Dirleton was constructed as part of a system designed to provide this level of accuracy and control.

The main operations block, often called a Happidrome, was the hub of the complex and it was from here that underground cables ran to the various transmitters and receivers in the surrounding areas. These included height finding equipment, plan and position indicators and machinery for the identification of friend and foe signals sent by incoming aircraft. The information obtained was collated in the operations room and relayed to the fighter stations at Drem

Drem

Drem is a small village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is approximately 20 miles east of Edinburgh and is close to Haddington , North Berwick , Dirleton and Gullane ....

 and the training unit at Charterhall

RAF Charterhall

RAF Charterhall is a former RAF station, beside the B6460 near the village of Greenlaw in Berwickshire, Scotland.Opened – 1942, Closed – 1946Base of No...

.
Although staff were not billeted at the station it was largely self sufficient with its own water supply, sewage treatment plant, generator house and telephone exchange. Welfare facilities included canteens, showers and rest rooms. It is clear that in times of emergency the site could have carried on independently of the national grid and, with the blast doors closed and air filtration unit functioning, it could have survived all but the most direct of hits from enemy planes.

In its later life it passed over many of its main functions to other centres but it continued as a training venue until the 1950s. Prior to development of the site a full survey was undertaken by Headland Archaeology

Headland Archaeology

Headland Archaeology comprises a holding company Headland Group Ltd and the trading subsidiaries Headland Archaeology Ltd, Headland Archaeology Ltd and Archaeological Investigations Ltd....

 and archived at the National Monuments Record of Scotland

National Monuments Record of Scotland

The National Monuments Record of Scotland was the term used for the archive of the sites, monuments and buildings of Scotland's past maintained by Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The separate name for the archive is no longer given prominence in RCAHMS...

http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/canmore.newcandig_details_gis?inumlink=121938, it is now a private home.