Castles – Scotland South-East, Scottish Borders
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Castles – Scotland South-East, Scottish Borders ‘Build Date’ refers to the oldest surviving significant elements In column 1; SB ≡ Scottish Borders Occupation SB CASTLE LOCATION Configuration Build Date Current Remains Status th 1 Aikwood NT 420 260 Tower 1530s Re-occupied Deserted,18 C, but restored, 1980s th 2 Barnhills NT 589 212 Tower Early-16 C Empty Low ruin, hardly visible in trees th 3 Billie NT 851 596 Tower + barmkin Early-15 C Empty, 1540s Only earthworks, traces of the tower, visible th 4 Blanerne NT 832 564 Tower + barmkin 16 C Empty Sparse ruins visible from distance th 5 Buckholm NT482 378 Tower + barmkin 1580s Empty, 19 C High ruin of tower th 6 Bunkle NT 805 596 Enclosure 13 C Empty, 1540s Earthworks, and masonry fragments th 7 Castlehill NT 214 354 Tower + barmkin Late-15 C Empty, 1670s High ruin of tower 8 Cessford NT 738 238 Tower + barmkin 1440s Empty, 1607 High ruins of tower th th 9 Cockburnspath NT 785 699 Tower Late-15 C Empty, 16 C High ruins of tower th 10 Colmslie NT 513 396 Tower Mid-16 C Empty, Pre-1700 Ruin of lower floors of tower th th 11 Corsbie NT 607 438 Tower 16 C Empty, 17 C? High ruins of 2 walls of tower, earthworks th th 12 Cranshaws NT 681 619 Tower 16 C Re-occupied Restored, may have been empty in 19 C th 13 Darnick NT 532 343 Tower 15/16 C Occupied Well-maintained th 14 Drochill NT 161 434 Fortified mansion 1578 Empty, 17 C Extensive ruins th 15 Dryhope NT 267 247 Tower + barmkin 1535 Empty, 17 C High ruin th 16 Duns NT 777 544 Tower c1500 Occupied Tower now embedded in 19 C mansion th 17 Earlston Rhymer’s NT 571 383 Tower 16 C Empty Ruin of 2 walls th th 18 Edrington NT 941 534 Tower 15 C? Empty, 18 C Fragments in farm buildings th 19 Elibank NT 397 363 Tower 1596 Empty,17 C High ruin 20 Evelaw NT 661 526 Tower 1570s Empty Largely complete ruin 21 Eyemouth NT 939 650 Forts(2) 1547 Empty, 1560 Earthworks, fragments of masonry th 22 Fast NT 862 710 Enclosure 14 C? Empty, c1600 Fragments on iconic site 23 Ferniehurst NT 652 179 Fortified house 1530s Occupied Entire but rebuilt and restored th 24 Fulton NT 605 158 Tower Mid-16 C Empty Ruin, below full-height 25 Greenknowe NT 639 428 Tower 1581 Empty, c1850 Largely complete, ruin th th 26 Hawick NT 499 140 Motte & bailey 12 C Empty, 14 C? Earthworks only th th 27 Hermitage NY 497 960 Tower + barmkin Mid-14 C Empty, 18 C Shell of tower almost entire, though patched 28 Hillslap NT 513 394 Tower + barmkin 1585 Occupied Restored in the 1980s th 29 Horsburgh NT 285 391 Tower 16 C Empty Fragmentary th 30 Horsburgh, Nether NT 304 396 Tower + barmkin 16 C Empty Fragmentary th th th 31 Hume NT 704 414 Enclosure 13 C Empty, 17 C Fragments within 18 C folly th th 32 Kilnsike NT 634 130 Bastle 16 C Empty, 17 C? Half-height ruin th th 33 Kirkhope NT 379 250 Tower + barmkin 16 C Occupied Restored, 19 C th th 34 Langshaw NT 516 397 Fortified house 16 C Empty, 18 C Fragmentary remains of tower, + extension th 35 Leitholm NT 784 438 Tower Early-16 C Empty, 1540s Truncated ruin th th th th 36 Minto, Fatlips NT 582 209 Tower 16 C Empty, 20 C Restored, 19 C, and 20 C in progress th 37 Neidpath NT 236 404 Tower Late-14 C Occupied Modified, and some ruinous parts th th 38 Newark NT 421 294 Tower + barmkin Early-15 C Empty, 18 C High ruin of tower, remnants of barmkin 39 Old Thirlstane NT 564 474 Tower c1500 Empty, 1595 Fragmentary ruins 40 Roxburgh NT 713 337 Enclosure + keep c1125 Empty, 1460 Earthworks, masonry fragments th 41 Smailholm NT 638 347 Tower + barmkin c1500 Re-occupied Empty after 18 C but restored 1 Occupation SB CASTLE LOCATION Configuration Build Date Current Remains Status th th 42 Thirlstane NT 534 479 Mansion + towers 1590s Occupied Entire, modified 17 & 19 C th th 43 Timpendean NT 635 226 Tower Late-15 C Empty, 19 C Ruin beside unconnected earthworks th 44 Tinnis NT 141 344 Enclosure c1500 Empty, 16 C Fragments of walls inside Iron Age ramparts 45 Traquair NT 330 354 Mansion 1491 Occupied Greatly expanded from original tower 46 Whitton NT 759 222 Tower c1600 Empty Truncated ruin th 47 Whytebank NT 442 377 Tower + barmkin 16 C Empty Tower restored, barmkin ruins 1. A total of 47 castles have been identified in the Scottish Borders. My selection philosophy has been to include those I think interesting, and the existence of coherent masonry is usually a prerequisite; I have usually excluded those which have benefitted from a modern reconstruction which could be described as a rebuild, unless it has preserved the exterior. There are remains of many more castles in the region, which I do not consider, often because they are fragmentary. So, my gazetteer is best regarded as a sample, albeit quite a large one, and any tentative conclusions I draw need to be seen in that light. 2. I have visited all of the 47 castles on my list. 3. There are 35 fortified tower houses, 13 of which show surviving evidence of a barmkin. There are no motte and bailey types with surviving stonework, though there is a fine surviving motte in Hawick. There are 5 enclosure types, though it must be admitted that the distinction between the one which also had a keep, and many of the tower and barmkin combinations is a matter of opinion. There are 5 which are best described as fortified houses. 4. Only 3 castles can be assigned with confidence to the period before the Scottish Wars of Independence, largely because then, and for some time afterwards, the Scottish government had a policy of demolishing them to deny them to English forces. 4. 11 castles remain occupied, but all have been restored, or incorporated in a larger building. Of the majority which are now empty, there is no real pattern around when desertion took place, save that the pacification of the borders by King James VI certainly made the possession of a castle seem less necessary. 2 SB1. Aikwood Tower is 6km south-west of Selkirk, near the right bank of the Ettrick Water and the B7009. The property belonged to Rutherfords before coming into the hands of the Scott family in the early 16th century; (this seems to run counter to the legendary association of the castle with the early 13th century magus, Michael Scot ‘the wizard’) The tower was erected by the Scotts, probably in the 1530s, but probably had to be rebuilt after damage was sustained during the English invasions, a decade later. After that, its existence seems to have been trouble-free until the mid-18th century when it was abandoned as a residence, though it remained roofed and was used as a store thereafter. It was sold by the Scotts in the 1940s, and restored by its present owners, the family of the politician, David Steel in the 1980s. It now offers luxury accommodation and is a wedding venue. As built it was rectangular of dimensions, 11.5 X 7.2m, with walls up to 1.3m; the lay-out was conventional with a vaulted basement used for storage, a hall above and 2 floors of private rooms on top, but it is no doubt completely different now. There are gun-loops and 2 bartizans at roof level, but there is no mention anywhere of a barmkin. 3 SB2. Barnhills Castle is set on the high left bank of Craigend Burn, just upstream of its juncture with the River Teviot, 6½km west of Jedburgh. The oblong early-16th century tower was built by the Turnbulls, burnt by the English in 1545, but swiftly repaired and pressed into service as a lookout-tower, a few years later. Little seems to be known of its history since then, but it must surely have been deserted by the early-18th century at latest judging by the fact that only a single storey survives totally overgrown as shown in the photograph. The structure has dimensions, 10.3 X 7.4m, with walls 1.4m thick. The walls are built of rubble masonry, mostly of freestone, and the remaining windows have chamfered freestone dressings. A rough opening in the east wall indicates the position of the entrance, and beyond this three steps lead down to the ground floor; on the left of the entrance can be traced the remains of a short straight flight of steps running southwards within the thickness of the wall to the south- east angle, where a newel staircase once rose to upper floors. The surviving ground floor is a single barrel- vaulted compartment. 4 SB3. Billie Castle is just over 1km south of the village of Auchencrow, and 16½km north-west of Berwick-upon- Tweed. An early castle belonged to the Dunbars at the beginning of the 13th century, but it seems unlikely that it will have survived the Scottish Wars of Independence, or been rebuilt for a while afterwards. The property passed to the Douglas, Earls of Angus in 1435, and the castle considered here was probably built then or a few years earlier. It was annexed by the Crown in 1540, but destroyed by the English in 1544, and there is no indication that it was ever rebuilt.