Langton Castle is a now destroyed medieval fortress at
Langton Langton may refer to:
Places
;Canada
*Langton, Ontario
;England
*Church Langton, Leicestershire
*East Langton, Leicestershire
*Great Langton, North Yorkshire
*Langton, Cumbria
*Langton, County Durham
*Langton, Lincolnshire
*Langton, North Yorkshi ...
, near the burgh of
Duns,
Berwickshire,
Scotland. Little remains of the structure.
History
Originally belonging to the
Viponts, the castle and its estate passed to the
Cockburns in 1330 upon the marriage of
Sir Alexander de Cokburne and the heiress Maria de Vipont. The castle was then the
caput of the
Cockburns of Langton until 1745.
From 1389 to 1396, Sir Alexander Cockburn of Langton was the
Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland.
In a dispute over succession to the estate, the castle was besieged by William Cockburn and his brother in law, David Home of
Wedderburn Wedderburn may refer to:
People
* Alexander Wedderburn (disambiguation)
* Bill Wedderburn, Baron Wedderburn of Charlton (1927–2012), British politician and legal scholar
* Charles F. Wedderburn (1892–1917), United States Navy officer
* Da ...
in 1517.
Antoine d'Arces, Sieur de la Bastie
Antoine d'Arcy, sieur de la Bastie-sur-Meylan and of Lissieu, (d. 17 September 1517) was a French nobleman involved in the government of Scotland.
The White Knight
Antoine d'Arces, or d'Arcy, is usually known as "De la Bastie" or "Labatie" in Sco ...
, the French deputy for
Regent Albany, summoned Cockburn and Home to resolve the dispute. They in turn broke off the siege and ambushed Bastie near
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
, there they slew him and displayed his head at the
Mercat cross of Duns.
Mary, Queen of Scots visited the castle in 1566.
In 1745, Cockburn of Langton was killed at the
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by th ...
and the estate was bought by a Mr David Gavin in 1758, whereafter the castle and the village of Langton were demolished to make way for a new mansion house. The villagers of Langton were relocated to the new village of
Gavinton Gavinton is a small settlement in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, south-west of Duns, Scottish Borders, Duns, the former county town of Berwickshire. The hamlet sits on a minor road off the A6105 Duns to Greenlaw road at .
History
Gavinto ...
. Gavin married Lady Elizabeth Maitland, daughter of
James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale, their daughter Mary married
John Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane
Lieutenant-General John Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane FRS (30 March 1762 – 29 March 1834), known as John Campbell until 1782 and as The Earl of Breadalbane and Holland between 1782 and 1831, was a Scottish soldier and landowner.
Bac ...
whose descendant demolished the house and built a final Langton House in 1886 designed by
David Bryce. This last house was demolished in 1950 and only a decorative gateway remains.
External links
RCAHMS Langton Castle site recordDunse history society report on Langton House
Castles in the Scottish Borders
Berwickshire
{{Scotland-castle-stub