Illieston House, also known as Illieston Castle, is a castle located in

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

, Scotland, by the River Almond near

Broxburn Broxburn ( gd, Srath Bhroc, IPA: �s̪ɾaˈvɾɔʰk is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the A89 road, from the West End of Edinburgh, from Edinburgh Airport and to the north of Livingston. Etymology The name Broxburn is a corruption of " ...

Description

The castle is a T-plan design, 2 storeys tall, with an attic, slated roof, and an additional kitchen wing. It has

gabled A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

dormers, and a

stair-tower A staircase tower or stair tower (german: Treppenturm, also ''Stiegenturm'' or ''Wendelstein'') is a tower-like wing of a building with a circular or polygonal plan that contains a stairwell, usually a helical staircase. History Only a few ex ...

on the south side. There is an additional 2nd stair-turret from the 2nd storey leading to a watch-chamber at the top of the main stair-tower. The modern interior includes four bedrooms and three reception rooms over three levels, plus a "turret room". The kitchen wing includes a separate laundry room and small lobby, beside a walled garden.

History

Origins to 18th century

The Stewart kings

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

and

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

are said to have had a hunting lodge at Illieston. The castle was built on the slopes of the River Almond some time around 1600 for a branch of the Hamilton family. It was acquired by John Ellis in 1663 or 1664, who added a gateway inscribed with his initials in 1665. The name Illieston may be a variation on the name Elliston. The Roman name Halistonium was previously used for the area. The 17th-century lawyer

John Lauder John Lauder (c.1488 – after February 1560) was Scotland's Public Accuser of Heretics. He was twice sent to Rome by King James V, to confirm the loyalty of the Scottish crown. As Principal Private Secretary to Cardinal David Beaton, Archbishop ...

Fountainhall Pencaitland is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, about south-east of Edinburgh, south-west of Haddington, and east of Ormiston. The land where the village lies is said to have been granted by William the Lion to Calum Cormack in 1169, ...

described the house in 1668, referring to it as "Hyliston". He mentions that the Hamilton family had been Catholics and had a chamber for a priest. The house was strongly built with a kitchen on the ground floor and a hall on the first floor hung with tapestry. Lauder heard that

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

had advanced 20,000

merks The merk is a long-obsolete Scottish silver coin. Originally the same word as a money mark of silver, the merk was in circulation at the end of the 16th century and in the 17th century. It was originally valued at 13 shillings 4 pence (exactly ...

towards the cost of building the house, as it suited his hunting on nearby Drumshorling moor. Some of the window shutters had the carved dates 1613 or 1614. John Ellis owned a portrait of his kinsman

John Scot, Lord Scotstarvit Sir John Scot, Lord Scotstarvit (1585–1670), was a Scottish laird, advocate, judge, politician and author. He was Director of Chancery and a Lord of Session. His surname is often spelt as Scott, and Scotstarvit is also spelt as Scotstarvet or Sc ...

. John Ellis had obtained his first charter of Illieston during the years of the

British Interregnum The interregnum in the British Isles began with the Execution of Charles I, execution of Charles I of England, Charles I in January 1649 (and from September 1651 in Scotland) and ended in May 1660 when his son Charles II of England, Charles II wa ...

, so the Hamilton family were able to claim the property back under laws of "non-entry". According to John Lauder, John Ellis's son-in-law, the lawyer and author James Anderson, helped the Hamiltons regain the property for "filthy lucre" after the Ellis heir died in 1686. The castle eventually passed back to the Hamilton family in 1693, and to

James Hope-Johnstone, 3rd Earl of Hopetoun James Hope-Johnstone, 3rd Earl of Hopetoun FRSE (23 August 1741 – 29 May 1816), known as Viscount Aithrie from 1742 to 1781, was a Scottish Representative Peer and military leader. Life Hopetoun was the son of John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, ...

in 1765.

19th to 21st century

By 1856 it had fallen into disrepair, and was restored by architect William Burn. In 1950 it was bought by the Brownlee family to use as a private residence, and as of 2017 still farm the surrounding land. The building was bought by Nicholas Schellenber in 2007, who modernised the property. Schellenber also experimented with solar panels. Part of it was rented out on Airbnb and then listed for sale by 2018, which attracted some media attention as one of the most expensive West Lothian properties in recent years. It sold for £890,000 including approximately 20 acres of land and separate

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

References

External links