Black Barony, also known as Blackbarony, Barony Castle, and Darnhall, is a historic house at

Eddleston Eddleston ( gd, Baile Ghille Mhoire) is a small village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies north of Peebles and south of Penicuik on the A703, which passes through the centre of the village. Nearby is the Great ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

area of Scotland. The house is currently operated as a hotel, and is protected as a Category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Nearby is the

Great Polish Map of Scotland The ''Great Polish Map of Scotland'' is a large (50 m x 40 m) three-dimensional, outdoor concrete scale model of Scotland, located in the grounds of the Blackbarony, Barony Castle Hotel, outside the village of Eddleston near Peebles in t ...

, a large relief model of Scotland.

History

The remains of a 16th-century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

, built by the Murrays of Blackbarony, form the oldest part of the building. Sir Alexander Murray, 2nd Baronet, purchased the nearby estate of

Cringletie Cringletie is a Scottish Baronial house by the Eddleston Water, around south of Eddleston in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Peeblesshire. Designed by David Bryce and built in 1861, the house is a Category B listed buildin ...

in 1666.

Sir Archibald Murray, 3rd Baronet Sir Archibald Murray of Blackbarony, 3rd Baronet (died before 28 May 1700), was a Scottish soldier, parliamentary commissioner and Gentleman. He was the son of Sir Alexander Murray, 2nd Baronet of Blackbarony, Sheriff of Peeblesshire (died c.1 ...

(died c. 1700) was a soldier and from 1689 served as " Sole Master of Work, Overseer, and Director-General of their Majesties' buildings" to King William II and Queen

Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...

, filling the post which had been vacant since

Sir William Bruce Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet (c. 1630 – 1 January 1710), was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes.Colvin, p.172–176 As a key figure in introduc ...

's dismissal in 1678. The house was extended in the 18th century, resulting in the present facade. In 1771 Black Barony passed to the Murrays of Elibank, who retained ownership until 1930. Further enlargements were made in the 19th century, and in the first half of the 20th century the house was converted to hotel use. As of 2012, the hotel is operated by the Mercure Group, part of Accor Hotels. During the Second World War, Black Barony at Eddleston near Peebles was requisitioned for military use and in 1942 became The Polish Higher Military School used for staff officer training. Poland had been invaded by Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Slovakia. Many Polish military personnel escaped via Romania to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. After the Fall of France in May 1940, many more Polish forces arrived in the UK. Most Polish land forces were deployed to Scotland and so Black Barony and other sites were requisitioned for the use of the Polish forces stationed in Scotland. These included the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade commanded by General Stanisław Maczek, which formed the nucleus of the 1st Polish Armoured Division organised in February 1942. Polish forces were initially deployed throughout Scotland for the defence of Scotland's East Coast against possible invasion by Nazi German forces in Norway and Denmark. The Poles provided the defence of many areas and vital services such as patrolling and guarding beaches, ports, estuaries, airfields and radar sites. They operated anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons and installed tank obstacles.

References

External links

Barony Castle, Peebles
{{coord, 55, 42, 46, N, 3, 13, 01, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Category B listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Country houses in the Scottish Borders