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ADMISSION prices to Edinburgh Castle are to go up by almost 12 per cent. Historic Scotland, which owns the Castle, said the price hike from £8.50 to £9.50 for adults was in line with its annual assessment of costs and had been prompted by market research. But Nationalist politicians have accused it of milking the Castle’s reputation to solve its own cash-flow problems. As Scotland’s top tourist attraction, the Castle can expect to rake in up to £1 million in extra income from the increase. The additional funds are not going directly to pay for restoration work at the attraction, but will be used to pay for conservation and preservation work across Scotland. Lothians MSP Kenny MacAskill, shadow tourism leader, said: "I think it’s a retrograde step and we are in danger of pushing visitors out of the market. "There may be cash problems at Historic Scotland, but this could make matters worse. The Castle is a visitor attraction that must be affordable and we are in danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. "A lot of visitors will simply not come because Edinburgh is too expensive and many foreign visitors will take a dim view of the high costs of coming to Scotland. "The result is that we lose potential visitors and alienate the ones we already have." The cost for OAPs has also gone up, by 75p from £6.25 to £7. Historic Scotland said there would be a price freeze of £2 for five to 15-year-olds, while under fives will still go free. Historic Scotland was criticised last year for introducing increases in charges twice in one week. The Castle introduced a £3 charge for using its popular audio-visual guides, just a week after adding 50p to its adult admission fee. It is undergoing renovation to turn the derelict Queen Anne building into a wedding venue as well as a £3.5m project to transform the prison vaults. A permanent interactive exhibition inside the 16th-century vaults will tell of prisoners of war in the American War of Independence, French Revolution and other 18th-century conflicts. More than a million people flock to see the Mons Meg cannon, the Scottish regalia and the Stone of Destiny every year. A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said the increase in pricing was part of its annual review of admission charges. She said: "We carried out market testing of similar organisations and we compare well with other attractions both in Scotland and Britain. The income we receive from the 70 sites where we charge admission offsets the conservation work in our other estates." Despite the price rise, Edinburgh Castle remains cheaper than other leading attractions in Britain. An adult ticket at the Tower of London, for example, costs £13.50 and £9 for children between five and 15 years old. A spokeswoman for Edinburgh and Lothian Tourist Board said: "Although an increase of £1 on an entrance fee of £8.50 is substantial, Historic Scotland obviously feels this still represents value for money. "Edinburgh Castle must be costly to upkeep and they are involved in developing and upgrading various sections of the site, which will add to the visitor’s experience. "I am sure this increase in admission charge will, in part, be used to cover these costs to ensure Edinburgh Castle remains the most popular visitor attraction in Scotland."

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Two hundred year old graffiti in Edinburgh Castle's prison vaults is one of the inspirations behind the development of a major new exhibition within the castle .The exhibition will explore the castle's connections with the American War of Independence as well as 18th century European conflicts including the French Revolution, through the stories of the men who found themselves gaoled at Edinburgh Castle.The prison vaults lie beneath the Queen Anne building in the castle's Crown Square. The exhibition is one part of a £3.5 million construction project within the Queen Anne building to provide a permanent all-weather education centre; function and exhibition space and additional café space.

"Edinburgh Castle is Scotland's most popular visitor attraction," Dr Murray said. "More than 1 million visitors are drawn each year by its spectacular location and history. They can see the Crown Jewels, the One O'Clock Gun and the Stone of Destiny as well as the Great Hall, St Margaret's Chapel, and Mons Meg. "This new exhibition will explore more of the castle's complex story, with links to Scots-born John Paul Jones - renowned in America as founder of the US Navy  and in Britain for capturing one of the Royal Navy's warships - and the turbulence of revolutionary Europe at the end of the 1700s."Edinburgh Castle is a world-class attraction and today's well-traveled tourists have high expectations."The vaults at Edinburgh Castle were constructed around 1500 and later used as soldiers' barrack-rooms and a bakehouse. However they were used for many years as prisons of war from the 1750s into the early 1800s. Graffiti carved into prison doors reveal the names and sentiments of many of the men there, and some of them etched crude drawings of their vessels. One drawing shows a gallows and noose, with the inscription Lord Nord (North) - the British Prime Minister at the time of the American War of Independence. Another shows a ship flying what appears to be the stars and stripes: one of the earliest known depictions of the American flag.

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