Nisbet House is a 17th-century mansion 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 ...

. It is located on the north side of the

Blackadder Water Blackadder Water () is a river in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming part of the River Tweed system. It reached 2.84m at Mouthbridge, which was its highest level ever recorded on Tuesday 22 October 2002 at 2:45pm. Ety ...

, south of

Duns Duns may refer to: * Duns, Scottish Borders, a town in Berwickshire, Scotland ** Duns railway station ** Duns F.C., a football club ** Duns RFC, a rugby football club ** Battle of Duns, an engagement fought in 1372 * Duns Scotus ( 1265/66–1308 ...

, in the Merse, a low-lying part of the former county of

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

. It was built in about 1630 by Sir Alexander Nisbet, ancestor of the heraldic authority

Alexander Nisbet Alexander Nisbet (bapt. 23 March 1657; died 7 Dec. 1725) was a Scottish lawyer and antiquarian. He is remembered for his works on the subject of heraldry, which are generally considered to be some of the most complete and authoritative ever pr ...

(1657–1725). Architectural evidence suggests that the building incorporates, at its eastern end, a square pele tower that was the former house. The house is protected as a

category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

History

The Nisbet family built two fortified houses or

pele tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standing ...

s in the 12th century, East Nisbet and West Nisbet. East Nisbet, now known as Allanbank, was located on the

near Allanton, although the original tower no longer exists. Wester Nisbet remains, and was extended in the 1630s to form the bulk of the present house. The

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

at the time was Sir Alexander Nisbet of that Ilk (c. 1580–1660). Sir Alexander Nisbet overextended his finances in supporting

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, and was forced to sell the property to John Ker in 1652. John's son by his second wife,

George Carre, Lord Nisbet The Hon George Carre, Lord Nisbet (c. 1700 – 1766) was an 18th-century Scottish lawyer who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice and a Lord of Session.. Life He was the son of John Carre or Ker (died 1737) of Cavers and West Nisbet, n ...

, was born here around 1700. A square tower, with fine interior plasterwork, in the classical style of William Adam was added to the west end in 1774. The house remained with Ker descendants (latterly in the person of

Lord Sinclair Lord Sinclair is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. According to James Balfour Paul's ''The Scots Peerage'', volume VII published in 1910, the first person to be styled Lord Sinclair was William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney and 1st Earl of Cai ...

) until the 1950s, when the estate was sold to

Lord Brocket Baron Brocket, of Brocket Hall in the County of Hertford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 January 1933 for the businessman Charles Nall-Cain, 1st Baron Brocket, Sir Charles Nall-Cain, 1st Baronet. He was chair ...

. After partial modernisation, the house was sold again in the mid-1960s to a local farmer, and remained unoccupied until its recent and comprehensive restoration as a private residence.

Nisbet estate

The former estate contains a very small mill, an 18th-century U-plan stable range (now converted into homes), and a scattering of cottages and farmhouses. Dunse Spa, a source of mineral water in the 18th century, is just to the north of the Nisbet estate and the spa house still stands.

Gallery

Photographs of Nisbet House taken by Robert Chancellor Nesbit in the 1930s. Image:nisbethouseastend.jpg, East end of Nisbet House Image:nisbethousegarden.jpg, Gardens at Nisbet House Image:nisbethouseploughing.jpg, Ploughing estate fields at Nisbet House Image:nisbethouseburialvault.jpg, Burial vault of Nisbet and Carre families

References

Sources

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External links