Oxenfoord Castle is a country house in

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is located north of

Pathhead, Midlothian Pathhead village is a conservation area in Midlothian, Scotland. Location Pathhead is located around south east of Dalkeith and south of Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh. It lies above the east bank of the River Tyne. The name of the vil ...

, and south-east of

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: �t̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...

, above the

Tyne Water Tyne may refer to: __NOTOC__ Geography *River Tyne, England * Port of Tyne, the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England * River Tyne, Scotland *River Tyne, a tributary of the South Esk River, Tasmania, Australia Peo ...

. Originally 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 ...

, the present castle is largely the result of major rebuilding in 1782, to designs by the architect Robert Adam. Oxenfoord was the seat of the Earl of Stair from 1840, and remains in private ownership. It is protected as a category A

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 ...

, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

History

The lands of Oxenfoord were owned by the Riddel family in the 12th century. By the 16th century the MacGills owned the estate, and built the original tower house. In 1651, James MacGill was elevated to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

as Viscount of Oxfuird. Oxenfoord passed through the family until it was inherited by Thomas Hamilton of

Fala The Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola) or FALA was the armed wing of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), a prominent political faction during the Angolan Civil ...

. His daughter and heiress, Elizabeth Hamilton, married Sir John Dalrymple, 4th Baronet, in 1760, and they inherited the estate in 1779. Sir John, a lawyer, scientist, and historian, published ''Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1771), and ''Essays on Different Natural Situations of Gardens'' (1774), an influential book at the time. A friend of Robert Adam, he commissioned the architect to rebuild his tower house at Oxenfoord in 1780. The L-plan tower was absorbed into the new building, in a similar manner to Adam's Culzean Castle. A new approach bridge was built around this time by Alexander Stevens, an Adam associate. The bridge is also a category A listed building. Sir John's son, in 1840, inherited the title 8th Earl of Stair. He commissioned William Burn to remodel the castle in 1842. A new wing and entrance was added in the style of Adam's work. The 8th and 9th Earls established a pinetum on the grounds of the house. In 1864 the 10th Earl inherited

Lochinch Castle Castle Kennedy is a ruined 17th-century tower house, about east of Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, around north of the village Castle Kennedy.Coventry, Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.109 History The prop ...

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

, and made his principal home there rather than at Oxenfoord. From 1931 until 1993 the house was used by

Oxenfoord Castle School Oxenfoord Castle School was a girls' private boarding school, based at Oxenfoord Castle, Pathhead, Midlothian, near Edinburgh in Scotland. The school was founded in 1931 and closed in 1993. It was founded by Lady Marjorie Dalrymple, sister of J ...

, founded by Lady Marjorie Dalrymple, sister of

John Dalrymple, 11th Earl of Stair John Hew North Gustav Henry Hamilton-Dalrymple, 11th Earl of Stair (12 June 1848 – 2 December 1914), known as Viscount Dalrymple 1864-1903, was a British army officer and nobleman. Family Hamilton-Dalrymple was the son of John Hamilton Dalrymple ...

.Martine, Rodd
Oxenfoord Castle - A Fine Ancestral Home
Scotland Magazine, Retrieved 15 October 2014 Since 1993, the house has reverted to private use by the Dalrymple family and has been used as a wedding venue, for private parties, and for corporate events.

References

External links

*{{Official, http://www.oxenfoord.co.uk/ Oxenfoord Castle School building and students (1964)

Category A listed buildings in Midlothian Listed houses in Scotland Robert Adam buildings Houses completed in 1782 Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes 1782 establishments in Scotland