For many people, Tyninghame on the beautiful East Lothian coast means beaches, sea birds and salt marshes. But this place on the southern boundary of the Firth of Forth was once an important monastic site, the burial place of St Baldred and later a bishop's palace that eventually became the seat of the earls of Haddington. In the early eighteenth century, its landscape was dramatically changed by a young woman, Lady Helen Hope and her husband, Thomas Hamilton, 6th Earl of Haddington. The church, the house, the gardens and surroundings have undergone many transformations since they lived here, but somehow their vision has remained intact and unspoiled.

Judy Riley reveals a fascinating story, weaving together the different threads – archaeological, historical, religious and horticultural – which make up this special place in a corner of East Lothian.