Buildings at risk
NB Heritage maintains a Buildings at Risk Register for North Berwick. The aim is to raise awareness of the heritage value of its buildings and monuments, to advocate for their care and repair, and to help monitor the condition of its at-risk historic buildings and monuments.
Buildings at Risk paper - July 2025.docxOur key focus is on the built environment, including buildings and monuments which are significant in the town’s history, architectural heritage and townscape. But some of our most important buildings and monuments are at risk through closure with no agreed future use, or because of general neglect and deterioration, or other factors.
This idea stems from the national Buildings at Risk Register, which aims to bring together potential funders, restorers and developers with buildings and sites that are considered at risk or under threat: Buildings at Risk Register | Historic Environment Scotland | HES.
NB Heritage maintains a Buildings at Risk Register for North Berwick to raise awareness of the plight of these buildings, to advocate for their care and repair, and to help us keep tabs on their condition.
The Register is a dynamic document and changes as buildings are repaired and saved, or lost and demolished.
We’ve seen some recent success stories. The viewpoint shelters on Tantallon Terrace and Glasclune Gardens were recently restored and are now looking splendid! This work was funded by North Berwick Trust, North Berwick Rotary Club and East Lothian Council – huge thanks to them. The efforts of a local Veterans’ Group and NB Heritage ensured that the Glasclune Gardens shelter was also restored. And more good news – the old County Hotel on the High Street has just been repaired and refurbished and is now open for business again.
If you are concerned about a building and would like us to add it to the Buildings at Risk Register, or have further information about any of the buildings featured in the Register, do please get in touch.
Built between 1658 and 1664 to replace the original parish church on Anchor Green, this picturesque ruin sits within an historic graveyard on the south side of High Street. Its tower had a distinctive bell-shaped roof until 2011 when it was removed for safety reasons. The site is under the ownership of East Lothian Council, but negotiations are in train to lease the site to NB Heritage. If sufficient funds can be raised, our aim is to conserve the whole building, re-roof the tower, re-floor the nave, and make the kirk accessible again for a range of community uses. The kirk and its graveyard are a scheduled monument.
The earliest record of the first stone-built kirk on Anchor Green is 1177, but there has been a chapel or church on this site since at least the 8th century. The kirk was abandoned in 1652 after a major storm. This is the first of three St Andrew’s churches to serve the town. The porch survives as a roofed remnant and houses a small exhibition about the site. Immediately adjacent are the remains of the rest of the building, which were first excavated in the 1950s and re-examined and re-displayed in 1999/2000 when the Seabird Centre was built. The site is safe, but needs to be maintained more regularly. Under the ownership of the Dalrymple family and managed by the Seabird Centre. This is a scheduled monument.
Under the ownership of East Lothian Council and the custodianship of North Berwick Harbour Trust Association, the susceptibility of the harbour to the vagaries of the weather was seen in the significant storm damage to the north harbour wall over the winter of 2023/24 – now thankfully repaired. The harbour is a significant historic feature: there has been a harbour here since at least medieval times when North Berwick became a royal burgh. Its existing breakwaters – which are of varied ages and, in parts, could be as early as the 16th century – continue to require maintenance and strengthening. Today, in 2025, the Harbour Trust is proposing new buildings for varied community uses on part of the former open-air swimming pool, while another local group is promoting building a new open-air pool on the site. The harbour is B-listed.
The Priory was founded around 1150 by Duncan I, Earl of Fife, for Cistercian nuns. This was one of the larger and wealthier nunneries in medieval Scotland, and it flourished for several hundred years. It was reportedly ruinous by around 1587. The upstanding ruins are visible in the grounds of the former Abbey Care Home, but the whole site is of archaeological and historic importance. The lawn at the front of the care home, for instance, overlies an extensive medieval cemetery, while the remains of a rare medieval tile kiln lie nearby. There is limited public access and interpretation, and the site is at potential risk from the proposed refurbishment of the care home to provide a number of dwellings, most for use as short-term lets, and associated works. The care home building is B listed, while the upstanding ruins and almost all of the care home grounds are a scheduled monument.
The remains of probably four, ruinous domestic-scale buildings occur at various elevations in The Glen. These are the remnants of early water-powered milling and textile trades, dating from medieval times to the 18th century. In variable, but mainly poor, condition and overgrown with vegetation. One of the information boards in the Glen is about the mills. Owned by East Lothian Council.
The gabled ruins of a stone-built watch-house lie near the summit of North Berwick Law. Built during the Napoleonic War in the early 19th century, the watch-house was part of a chain of naval signal posts stretching along the Scottish coast. The stations were used to monitor the seaways for enemy vessels and forewarn the Royal Navy of any threats, with coded messages communicated from the signal station using a system of flags, pennants and balls hoisted on a flagstaff. Two gables survive and the footings of the side walls, but the remains are in uncertain condition. The whole of the Law, including the watch-house, is a scheduled monument. Owned by East Lothian Council.
This wartime observation post is situated immediately NW of the summit of North Berwick Law. It may have been constructed during or after World War 1, and was certainly used in World War 2. Built of brick and concrete, and still roofed, the condition of this look-out post is deteriorating and it suffers from graffiti. Together with the Napoleonic era watch-house and the replacement whalebone arch, this trio of monuments form a distinctive crown on top of the Law. They sit amidst a wealth of prehistoric archaeology on what was an Iron Age hillfort (around 2,000 years ago). The whole of the Law is a scheduled monument. Owned by East Lothian Council.
This scarped hillock with its flattened top was almost certainly the site of a 13th-century castle held by the earls of Fife. It has not been excavated, but a castle is mentioned in 1388 when the then earl of Fife was prevented from accessing his property by the Douglases. Castle Hill appears to have been abandoned soon after Tantallon Castle was built by the Douglasses in the mid 14th century. This type of site is known as a motte and today it is suffering from erosion and invasive vegetation. Its historic interest and importance is little known in the town. This is a scheduled monument. Owned by East Lothian Council.
An adjunct to the historic Lodge buildings (which are occupied and in reasonably good repair), this square doocot dates from the 18th century. Located to the rear of the Lodge and Wall Tower House, its condition is uncertain, but it is evidently occupied by wood pigeon. Accessed from the public footpath in the Lodge Grounds. The doocot is B-listed as part of this complex of buildings. Owned possibly by East Lothian Council.
This building is at immediate threat of demolition. This attractive late 19th-century sandstone building was originally a home, before becoming the Golf Hotel. Most recently, it was used as staff accommodation for the Marine Hotel. It is located in a prominent corner position in the Conservation Area, at the junction of Dirleton Avenue and Hamilton Road. It has been vacant for over 4 years and the current owner, Caledonian Heritable (a development company), has applied to demolish it and redevelop the site with an over-sized and incongruous block of 14 flats.
ELC’s own planning officers recommended refusal of both applications, and objections to its demolition were also submitted by NB Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, and many local people. In their letter, HES described the building as ‘architecturally significant’, as well as ‘highly visible’. Inexplicably, despite all these objections including from their own planners, and disregarding all planning policy and guidance, the Local Review Body approved the proposal to demolish and redevelop the site. The case was 'called in' and is now being considered by Scottish Ministers.
Built in 1908/9 by architects Leadbetter and Fairley and designed to fit its location alongside the ruins of the ancient Priory. Previously a nursing home, but closed in 2024 and sold to a private owner. Planning permission has recently been granted to convert the building into several flats, mainly to be used as short-term lets. This major re-development may impact not only the historic building, but could potentially have an adverse impact on the architectural and archaeological remains in its grounds. The building is B-listed and its grounds are a scheduled monument. Owned by East Lothian Council.
The Abbey Farm dovecot was built in the 17th century and is a double-lectern dovecot with nesting places for 1,320 birds. It is suffering from invasive vegetation and is very overgrown, which makes it hard to see. NB Heritage was told that ELC would clear the vegetation over the winter 2024/25, while preserving the site’s biodiversity. Owned by East Lothian Council.
This two-storey 18th-century townhouse at the east end of High Street has an external stone stair leading to the historic council chamber on its upper floor, and is topped by a square bell-cote with clock faces to north and south. The ground floor is used as a shop. The upper floor is occasionally used for meetings. This important historic structure is at low risk, but vulnerable to gentle neglect given the Council’s difficult financial situation and the lack of regular use of its first-floor room – this is one to watch. The townhouse is B-listed. Owned by East Lothian Council.
Two pedestrian viewpoint shelters of likely mid 20th-century date – a larger one on Tantallon Terrace at the base of Castle Hill, and a smaller one on the hill above it, adjacent to Glasclune Gardens. Both shelters have fine views northwards over the Firth of Forth. Both were in poor condition and in need of restoration. The Rotary Club of North Berwick and a Veterans’ Group (supported by NB Heritage) led campaigns to repair the shelters. With funding and support from North Berwick Trust, the Rotary Club and East Lothian Council, both shelters were renovated in early 2025 and re-opened at a ceremony in May. Both shelters are owned by East Lothian Council.
Built in 1896 by architect John W Hardie, this hotel building faces onto the narrow east end of the High Street and extends southwards to Kirk Ports. The building had stood empty since circa 2021, with hoardings on its frontage advertising for a new tenant. Its condition was deteriorating badly and it had become an eyesore on the High Street. Its back garden was also heavily overgrown. However, it was repaired and refurbished over the summer of 2025, and it re-opened as a hotel and restaurant in September. Formerly called the County Hotel, it has been re-named ‘The Law’. In commercial ownership.