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Castles
in the Scottish Borders.

It’s 20:05 in the Borders.
Scottish Borders

Strongholds of the border.

Centuries of fighting over the border have left the Borders full of castles. There's a grim medieval fortress in Liddesdale where Mary Queen of Scots rode to visit her lover. Above the Tweed at Kelso stands the great castle of the Dukes of Roxburghe, and at Lauder a turreted castle is still lived in by its family. Ruins stand on clifftops and crags, and a tunnel walk leads to a tower above the Tweed near Peebles. Check opening times before you travel.

Neidpath Tunnel and Castle→
Fatlips Castle→
Hermitage Castle→
Floors Castle→
Hume Castle→
Jedburgh Castle Jail & Museum→
Castle of the day18 hours ago

Hermitage Castle.

The grim medieval fortress of Liddesdale, guardhouse of the Scottish Middle March, where Mary Queen of Scots rode to see Bothwell in 1566.

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From our guide17 hours ago

Thirlestane Castle.

Baronial towers. Gilt-edged paintings. Grand staterooms shimmering with crystal. The 16th-century Thirlestane Castle is still a romping example of manicured opulence, pairing a no-expense-spared interior with neat parkland and a redesigned rose garden. It also traqhosts a Toy Museum, with toys from the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian eras.

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Lunch16 hours agoScottish BordersAbbey Bridge Coffee House & Pizzeria300 yardsScottish BordersSimply Scottish600 yardsScottish BordersThe Capon Tree Town House800 yards

Lunch near Jedburgh Castle Jail & Museum.

The three closest tables: Abbey Bridge Coffee House & Pizzeria, Simply Scottish and The Capon Tree Town House.

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From the JournalThe journal15 hours ago

The Redcap of Hermitage Castle

The imposing mass of Hermitage Castle has changed greatly since the 13th century.

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Did you know14 hours ago

A beacon lit by mistake at Hume Castle in 1804 called out 3,000 volunteers.

On 31 January 1804 the beacon at Hume Castle, in the Borders, was lit in error. It set off false alarms across southern Scotland and called out 3,000 volunteers, and the night became known as the Great Alarm.

See Hume Castle · Scottish Borders
From our guide13 hours ago

Smailholm Tower.

Balanced dramatically on a crag next to a lochan, this extraordinary, four-storey tower is another site associated with the local titan of Romantic literature, Sir Walter Scott. It was once the family residence of the writer’s ancestors, and Scott himself spent long periods here as a young boy. The fortified enclosure walls are two metres thick.

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From our guide11 hours ago

Manderston House.

An extravagant masterpiece of Edwardian craftmanship – complete with crystal chandeliers, marble floors and no less than 109 rooms – Manderston is today home to the 4th Lord Palmer, but remains a visitor attraction of rare appeal. The house is all stuccoed ceilings and silver-plated balustrades, while the beautiful gardens hold four formal terraces.

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From our guide10 hours ago

Fatlips Castle.

A rock-solid landmark occupying the heights of Minto Crags for almost half a millennium, this pleasingly named towerhouse – another Peel tower – affords a billowing panorama across the Borders countryside. Why the name? Theories abound, but one suggests that the males of the Turnbull clan, formerly resident here, had a habit of greeting female guests with overeager kisses.

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From our guide9 hours ago

Paxton House.

Located a pebble’s throw north of the fast-flowing River Tweed – which here acts as the national border – this majestic Georgian house is still seen as one of the finest Palladian buildings in Britain. Eighteenth-century wealth is still apparent in its state rooms, gardens and pink sandstone exterior.

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True or false8 hours ago

True or false: Scotland's hottest temperature on record is 35.1C, measured at Floors Castle near Kelso in July 2022.

From our guide7 hours ago

Fast Castle.

‘Past Castle’ might be a more apt name for this evocative-but-crumbling clifftop fortress on the Berwickshire coast. First mentioned in 1333 – and still clinging moodily to a craggy stack overlooking the waves – it was once reachable only by drawbridge but can now be accessed by a permanent railed footbridge. It’s a short distance north of St Abb’s Head.

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From our guide6 hours ago

Hume Castle.

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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