IT once sheltered troops as they prepared to face a Jacobite army, while its garden has served as a guest house for performing circus horses.

And now Barracks House in Port Seton will be home to a new family after going on the market with an asking price of £210,000.

The three-bedroom stone building dates from the early 1600s and was originally built as a lookout post for merchants, before becoming the barracks for the militia of the Earl of Swinton.

During the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion it was used as quarters for General Copes’ Northumberland Army before their defeat at the Battle of Prestonpans and since the early 1900s it has been in hands of the same family, but current owner Isobel Pensom has decided to move on after more than half a century in residence.

She remembers a time when the grounds were used by holiday campers and came complete with a small shop and tennis courts.

She said: "My brother and I were brought up in the lower house from the 1950s to the 1970s, but both properties have morphed over time as has the area around them.

“My great grandfather seems to have had a dairy and some fields in Tranent and I think he also had an early haulage business. The property seems to have been destined for his daughter Mary and her husband as a home and business venture.

"Mary's husband died in the early 1950s, and I have happy but vague memories of him. I have no memory of the tennis courts but do remember the shop and the fields around it which later became the bank building and Chinese restaurant.”

She added that there were some quite unusual visitors during the property's time as a holiday home. Mrs Pensom said: "Up until the early 1960s she let rooms to holiday makers and during the summer part of the back garden had campers who used what is now our downstairs family room as a wash house.

"That I do remember. I also remember performing horses tethered in the garden one year when the circus was in town.”

When Isobel’s Great Aunt Mary died, her parents moved upstairs and sold the downstairs house. Isobel, her husband and daughter moved in with Isobel’s mother when her father died in 1990 and the family have lived there ever since.

Caroline Young, spokesperson for ESPC, said: “As well as a fascinating history, Barracks House is only a short stroll to the harbour, promenade and beach of Port Seton, and would make a fantastic family home. It is within easy reach of some of the best golf courses in Scotland, including at Musselburgh, Muirfield and Gullane which have all hosted Open Championships. Musselburgh race course is only five minutes away by car, and the beautiful beaches of East Lothian are within easy access.

“This unique property, rarely available, would be ideal for those who enjoy a quieter pace of life and would like to live in a home with such a rich history.”