Nether Horsburgh Castle is a ruined

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 ...

near Cardrona, 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 ...

, in the former county of

Peebleshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lana ...

. It is situated at the back of a farmstead, southwest of the market town of

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

, at grid reference , on the A72 road. Access may be gained by permission from the adjoining farmstead, Nether Horsburgh Farm.

Description

The remains of Nether Horsburgh Castle consist of a ruined, 16th-century rectangular tower-house, at the foot of a rolling valley overlooking the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...

, with the Hope Burn flowing just a few meters to the east. Originally, the tower had an adjoining courtyard and ranges of buildings, traces of which can still be seen to the north of the tower. Only three walls still survive, reaching a height of about , with the east wall being completely ruined to ground level. The existing structure appears to have measured about by , with walls of about thick. It is thought that the tower rose to a height of four stories, with an entrance situated at ground level on the northeast side of the building. This led into a

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

cellar, studded with slit window apertures. Evidence suggests that access to the upper floors was gained by a staircase situated in the east wall. A small courtyard was formed by a range of buildings continuing to the east for about , then north for about . All that remains of this is a small fragment of the northern segment, which now forms a part of the field boundary in which the castle stands. The site is protected as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

History

The castle was built and occupied by the Borders family of Horsburgh, and was later sold to Sir Robert Stewart of Shillingshaws, due to diminished family fortunes. Other castles owned by the Horsburgh family are to be found in the same part of Peebleshire. Less than to the west, on a grassy knoll, stands the remains of a small tower and wing. This is

Horsburgh Castle Horsburgh Castle, also known as Horsbrugh Castle or Horsbrugh Tower, is a ruined tower house castle by the River Tweed, on the A72 road from Peebles to Galashiels, near Glentress in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The ruins date from the 1 ...

, also of the 16th century, and just north of Peebles, high on the side of Mailingsland Hill, stands the remains of Hutchinfield Tower. A very dilapidated oblong block, again this is of the 16th century.

Photographs of the ruins

Image:Nether Horsburgh Castle 1, web.JPG, The castle from the east Image:Nether Horsburgh Castle 2.jpg, Southeast view Image:Nether Horsburgh Castle 2.JPG, Northwest view Image:Nether Horsburgh 02.JPG, Castle is to the left of farm.

References

* *Salter, Mike (1985). ''Discovering Scottish Castles''. Shire Publications Ltd. .

Description

History

Photographs of the ruins

References

See also