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An aerial view shows a battlemented fort crowning a rocky hilltop, patchwork farmland spreading in every direction below.
Scottish Borders

Hume Castle

A battlemented folly of the 1770s on the site of the Homes' medieval stronghold, crowning a hilltop near Greenlaw with views over the Borders.

Welcome

On a rocky hilltop south of Greenlaw, the great battlemented walls of Hume Castle crown the skyline.

From the walls there are wide views over the fields of the Borders.

There has been a castle here since the 1200s. It was the stronghold of the Home family and changed hands with the English more than once, until Cromwell's troops besieged it in 1651 and blew it up. About 1770 the Earl of Marchmont bought the ruin and built the walls you see today, not for defence but as an ornament to the landscape.

Hume had one more moment of drama. On a winter night in 1804, the sergeant in charge of its beacon mistook charcoal burners' fires for a warning of invasion and lit his own, sending 3,000 volunteers out across southern Scotland in the Great Alarm. The castle is free to visit.

Before you go

Open to the public and free, owned by the Hume Castle Preservation Trust.

Where
Three miles south of Greenlaw.
Walls
About 1770.
Admission
Free.

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Did you know

An aerial view shows a battlemented fort crowning a rocky hilltop, patchwork fields and scattered farms spreading below.
Did you know

The Great Alarm.

On 31 January 1804 Hume's beacon was lit in error, setting off false alarms across southern Scotland and calling out 3,000 volunteers.

An aerial view shows a patchwork of green and golden fields stretching towards distant hills, sheep grazing on a grassy slope in the foreground.
Did you know

Built for show.

The walls standing today were put up about 1770 by the Earl of Marchmont as an ornament to the landscape.

Ben Lerwill

From our guide to The Borders

Almost wherever you travel in the regions, the atmospheric, hill-perched ruins just keep on coming. Hume Castle stands on the skyline like some gap-toothed monument, its crenellated fortifications hinting at a past that saw it become one of the most important defensive outposts in the Eastern Borders. Having been destroyed in the past, much of the stonework has been restored.

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Where it is

In the village of Hume, three miles south of Greenlaw, with steps up from a car park, NT 705 414.

Close byBerwickshire.
  1. The broken curtain wall of Roxburgh Castle, with an arched opening, along the top of its grassy mound under a deep blue winter sky, a bare tree rising behind it.Roxburgh CastleThe broken walls of a medieval royal castle on a steep ridge between the Tweed and the Teviot, just west of Kelso.5 miles as the crow flies
  2. The shopfront of Rutherfords Micropub at 38 The Square in Kelso, with its black sign, red awning and tables and chairs on the pavement.Rutherfords MicropubA small micropub on the Square in Kelso, named CAMRA's Borders Pub of the Year in 2025 and 2026.5 miles as the crow flies
  3. The pale stone front of Ednam House in Kelso, with its pediment and white doorway, across a lawned turning circle on a spring evening.Ednam HouseA Georgian mansion on the banks of the Tweed in Kelso, now a hotel with a restaurant, a bar and three acres of riverside gardens.5 miles as the crow flies
  4. Thatched cottage with box hedges and blue poppies in a gardenMellerstain HouseA Robert Adam house near Kelso, open for guided tours from May to September, with gardens, parkland walks and a courtyard cafe.5 miles 8 min by road
  5. Kelso AbbeyKelso AbbeyThe great abbey at Kelso.7 miles 13 min by road
  6. Marchmont House at the end of its long lawn, a pale Palladian front with a central cupola under a blue sky.Marchmont HouseThe house its walls were built to be seen from.9 miles 18 min by road
Directions
Ruined stone tower with rounded turret, framed by trees on grasslandAttractionsGreenknowe Tower6.5 miles
Green-fronted Dor shop at number 38, selling lifestyle goods and coffeeShoppingDōr6.6 miles
Aerial view of Fyvie Castle's turreted grounds surrounded by autumn woodland and fieldsAttractionsFloors Castle7.2 miles
The main lawn at Mertoun Gardens in early summer, with tall conifers behind and azaleas in flower along the border.AttractionsMertoun Gardens7.9 miles
Stone tower of Smailholm Tower rises above ruined walls and rolling Borders hillsAttractionsSmailholm Tower8.9 miles
Red dining room with gilt-framed portraits, wall lights and set tablesAttractionsSCHLOSS Roxburghe11 miles
Wrought iron bracket holding an oval sign reading Coldstream MuseumAttractionsColdstream Museum11 miles
The giant red sandstone statue of William Wallace with sword and shield on a tall plinth against a blue sky.AttractionsWallace Statue12 miles
Café interior with wooden tables, chalkboard menu and a "Deli & Home" signShoppingThe Mainstreet Trading Company12 miles

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The Daily for 25 October, from Scotland with love. bare tree stumps standing in an autumn loch, forested hills reflected in the still water

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the castle, and when each is next free.

The House in the Hill at dusk, its turf roof over walls of local stone and glass, a bedroom lit inside and the hot tub at the corner.The House in the Hill
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Jedburgh
  • 14 miles from Hume Castle
Free 29–31 OctA landscape view of the Blue Cabin at the foot of the brae, lamps lit by its red door and boats drawn up on the grass.Blue Cabin by the Sea
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Cockburnspath
  • 19 miles from Hume Castle
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in the Scottish BordersAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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