This exhibition focuses on prisoners of war held at the castle during the 18th and early 19th century

Interior view of the French prisoners' vault in the recreated prisons of war at Edinburgh Castle © Historic Scotland

Key facts

The 'Stars and Stripes' carved into a door in the Prisons of War in 1781 © Historic Scotland

Over the centuries, the castle was used to hold state prisoners, and sometimes to put them to death.

In medieval times, common criminals were thrown into dungeons beneath the castle.

- Prisoners brought here in later years include enemy soldiers and sailors, pirates, traitors and women accused of witchcraft. Public executions – by hanging, beheading or burning – were held on Castle Hill, now the Esplanade, during the 16th century.

- In the 17th century, when the Covenanting movement seriously threatened royal authority, the castle became infamous as a place where torture was practised.

- Foreign prisoners of war were brought to the castle at various times. French, Dutch, Spanish, Irish, Italian, Danish, Polish and American troops were held here during the Seven Years War (1756–63), the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15) and the American War of Independence (1775–83).

- Some of these prisoners were very creative. The Prisons of War exhibition includes artefacts they produced, from a detailed scale model of a warship to forged banknotes.