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A stone archway breaks the high curtain wall of a ruined castle, a paved path leading through it towards the sea.
Lothian

Dunbar Battery

A gun battery of 1781 on Lamer Island at Dunbar harbour, made into an open-air space with an amphitheatre, a coastal garden and mirrored sculptures.

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Welcome

At the mouth of Dunbar's harbours, on Lamer Island, stands the Battery, a gun emplacement built in 1781 on a rock of columnar basalt to protect the town from privateers.

In 2017 it was given a new life by the Dunbar Harbour Trust as an open space that anyone can wander into at almost any time.

You enter through an arched stone gateway. Inside, an old cannon still points out to sea from the walls, and the space has been laid out with a coastal garden, a small amphitheatre with seats for sixty and a stage for music and drama, and an interpretation hub.

Scattered across the grass are the Sea Cubes by the artist Donald Urquhart, mirrored steel blocks that reflect the sky and double as seats. Their shape recalls the embrasures in the walls and the crystals of sea salt once made along this coast, and engraved on them are twenty-two kinds of plankton, among them crab, lobster and prawn. It is quiet here, apart from the wind and the kittiwakes.

Before you go

Open to explore at almost any time; closed on stormy days for safety.

Where
Lamer Island, Dunbar harbour, EH42 1HY.
Built
1781.
Amphitheatre
Seats 60.

Did you know

A bronze plaque set into paving reads "1781, The Battery is built to protect Dunbar against American sea raiders".
Did you know

Built against privateers.

The Battery was built in 1781 to defend Dunbar from privateers.

A cluster of reflective metal cubes stands arranged on gravel within the ruined walls of a castle, the sea visible beyond the battlements.
Did you know

Plankton in steel.

Twenty-two kinds of plankton are engraved on the Sea Cubes, including the crab, lobster and prawn caught by Dunbar's boats.

Hidden Scotland

From our guide to Lothian

Out on Lamer Island at the mouth of Dunbar's harbours, a gun battery was built in 1781 on a rock of columnar basalt to keep privateers away. In 2017 the Dunbar Harbour Trust opened it up as a space anyone can wander into. Walk through the arched gateway and you'll find an old cannon still pointing out to sea, a coastal garden and a small amphitheatre. Scattered on the grass are Donald Urquhart's Sea Cubes, mirrored steel blocks engraved with plankton that double as seats. Apart from the wind and the kittiwakes, it's lovely and quiet.

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What is on

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New places, news and stories, as we find them.

What is on in Lothian
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Where it is

On Lamer Island at the entrance to Dunbar's harbours, EH42 1HY.

Close byDunbar harbour.
  1. The Creel Restaurant lit up on a wet street corner at nightThe Creel, DunbarA small restaurant by Dunbar harbour cooking local seafood and East Lothian produce, much recommended by the town's own people.Under a mile1 min by road
  2. Dunbar CastleDunbar CastleThe castle ruins across the harbour.Under a mile1 min by road
  3. Fishing boats moor beneath Dunbar Castle's red sandstone ruins on the harbourThe Creel LoadersThe fishing statue on Victoria Street.Under a mile1 min by road
  4. John Muir's Birthplace on Dunbar High Street, a white-harled house with flowers by the open door.John Muir's BirthplaceThe house on Dunbar's High Street where John Muir, the Scot who helped create America's national parks, was born in 1838, now a free museum.Under a mile1 min by road
  5. Dunbar High Street under a blue sky, the white Town House with its tower and spire among the old buildings.Dunbar Town House Museum & GalleryDunbar's 16th-century tolbooth on the High Street, with its witch's hat tower, now a free museum and gallery of the town's history.Under a mile2 min by road
  6. Waves breaking on a sandy beach under a blue sky with scattered cloudsDunbar Clifftop Path to Belhaven BayThe clifftop path from the harbour.1 mile4 min by road
Directions
Railed path leads from grassy clifftop down to a rocky shorelineAttractionsDunbar High Street0.4 miles
White clubhouse with red tiled roof beside a links golf courseAttractionsDunbar Golf Course1.0 miles
Metal footbridge crosses a tidal creek on a wide sandy beachAttractionsBelhaven Bridge1.4 miles
Grassy dunes overlook a curving sandy beach with Bass Rock offshoreAttractionsTyninghame Links3.3 miles over the water
Stone dovecot with conical tiled roof and outside stair, set in grassAttractionsPreston Mill8.1 miles
Ruined stone castle with wooden staircase leading to an arched doorwayAttractionsHailes Castle8.6 miles
Grassy headland overlooking a rocky shoreline and calm coastal watersAttractionsBerwickshire Coastal Path8.8 miles
A landscape view of the Blue Cabin at the foot of the brae, lamps lit by its red door and boats drawn up on the grass.CockburnspathBlue Cabin by the SeaSleeps 4 · 8.9 miles
Sunset breaks through clouds over a curving beach and low wavesAttractionsSeacliff11 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near the Battery, and when each is next free.

A landscape view of the Blue Cabin at the foot of the brae, lamps lit by its red door and boats drawn up on the grass.Blue Cabin by the Sea
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Cockburnspath
  • 8 miles from the Dunbar Battery
Check datesA stone cottage with red pantiled roofs and a gabled dormer sits behind a gravel courtyard, an apple tree in the foreground.Maybell Cottage
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Lothian
  • 17 miles from the Dunbar Battery
Check datesAn orange leather sofa draped with a sheepskin faces a stone fireplace beneath a timber ceiling, a staircase rising behind.The Old Stable
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Lothian
  • 17 miles from the Dunbar Battery
Free 18–20 OctThe Crow’s Nest, FifeThe Crow’s Nest
  • Sleeps 5
  • In Lothian
  • 17 miles from the Dunbar Battery
Free 2–4 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in LothianAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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