Castle set to open Tower

Published on 28/11/2012 12:00

ONE of the oldest surviving parts of Edinburgh Castle – notorious for being the site of the “Black Dinner” which led to the beheadings of the Earl of Douglas and his brother – is set to be opened to the public.

Groups of visitors will be allowed into David’s Tower, built in the 1370s. It is hidden from public view these days behind the Half Moon Battery.

The tower, built for King David II, was also used as a hiding place for Scotland’s crown jewels during the Second World War.

During the “Black Dinner” in 1440, the Earl of Douglas, 16, and Wigtown and his younger brother were accused of treason in the presence of King James II, who was only ten years old at the time. They were dragged outside and beheaded.