Thirlestane Castle is a
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
set in extensive parklands near
Lauder in the
Borders of Scotland. The site is aptly named Castle Hill, as it stands upon raised ground. However, the raised land is within
Lauderdale, the valley of the
Leader Water. The land has been in the ownership of the Maitland family since 1587, and Thirlestane served as the seat of the
Earls of Lauderdale. The castle was substantially extended in the 1670s by the first and only
Duke of Lauderdale
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...
. Further additions were made in the 19th century. The castle is now cared for by a charitable trust, and is open to the public.
History of the castle
Before the 13th century, a large
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
or castle was built on Castle Hill near the Leader Water. It was the site of the ancient church of Lauder, where in 1482,
James III's favourites, including the architect
Robert Cochrane, were dragged by envious nobles led by
Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus and hanged from the (earlier) Lauder Bridge. The sites of the ancient kirk and the bridge from which Cochrane and his colleagues met their demise, are now within the immediate policies of Thirlestane Castle, the church some 60 yards from the west front, and the bridge some quarter-mile to the north-east.
This castle passed to Robert Lauder of that Ilk, who gave it in
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
to his daughter Alison and her husband George Wedderhede in 1532. This couple, and their son, were all murdered in feuds, Alison in 1547. Presumably the lands reverted to her parents, her mother being Alison Cranstoun. They both died in the second half of 1567 leaving only young grandchildren as heirs.
During the war with England known as the '
Rough Wooings' the site of the present castle was occupied by a large English artillery fort and garrison. Following the design by Thomas Pettit, Surveyor of Calais, the fort was begun on 5 April 1548 by
Sir Robert Bowes and was estimated to cost £296 and take four weeks to complete.
Hugh Willoughby was its captain. The villagers of Lauderdale and further afield were summoned to demolish the fort and help transport the remaining artillery to
Hume Castle in June 1550.
The Cranstouns sold Castle Hill on 27 January 1587 to
Sir John Maitland (d. 1595). By the 22 March 1587, Maitland was "busily occupied with his masons at the building of his house in the Fort of Lauder."
The Maitland family
The
Maitlands came to
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
from
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
with
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, ...
in 1066, originally settling in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...
. They gained power and influence as a result of military service but largely due to their contributions to
law and the
arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...
in the 16th century.
William Maitland of Lethington, was Secretary to
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
, his younger brother was Sir
John Maitland, Secretary of Scotland, who acquired Thirlestane in 1587. In the same year he built a large square
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...
or
tower house upon the foundations and walls of the original fort. In 1590, Sir John was appointed
Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland, formally the Lord High Chancellor, was a Great Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland.
Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower st ...
, and was ennobled as Lord Maitland of Thirlestane. This new house near Lauder was to replace the Maitland's original but now decaying (Old) Thirlestane Castle, a
peel 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-stan ...
situated a mile or so to the south-east, the ruins of which are still extant near the hamlet of Thirlestane.
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 h ...
visited several times. He came in February 1591 to celebrate the wedding of John Maitland's niece to the Laird of Lugton. He stayed again in October 1593. After John Maitland's death on 3 October 1595, his widow
Jean Fleming married the
Earl of Cassilis and on 22 February 1599 Fleming and Cassilis hosted James VI at the castle.
Lord Maitland's son
John Maitland was created the 1st
Earl of Lauderdale in 1624. His son was
John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale (1616–1682), one of the most important Scottish figures of the late 17th century, being appointed
Secretary of State for Scotland in 1660, a position carrying unrivalled power and influence. He employed the architect
Sir William Bruce
Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet (c. 1630 – 1 January 1710), was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes.Colvin, p.172–176 As a key figure in introdu ...
to transform the castle into a residence suitable for conducting the affairs of state. Between 1670 and 1676 the substantial alterations included the addition of the two front towers and the grand staircase, in addition to extensive internal modifications creating lavish staterooms with magnificent plasterwork ceilings. Lauderdale had Bruce retain much of the castle's earlier fabric giving it an external aura of antiquity, while the interiors met the highest fashion in seventeenth century planning and furnishing. This allowed Lauderdale to revere the antiquity of his family residence at the same time as living in high contemporary fashion. After the Duke of Lauderdale's death, his widow
Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, explained a letter how much he had preferred Thirlestane to
Lethington Castle, and thought it better to settle his family there rather than in Lothian. He had even thought of being buried in Lauder Kirk.
By the 19th century, in more peaceful times, the castle took on the role of a Scottish country mansion for the Earls of Lauderdale. In 1840 the Edinburgh architects
David Bryce
David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scottish architect.
Life
Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David Bryce (1763–1816) a grocer with a successful side interest in building. ...
and
William Burn were engaged to design extensions to the castle. Their additions consist of two large wings flanking the central keep and a south wing, constructed around a central courtyard, housing new kitchens, pantries, laundries and servants' quarters.
During World War Two the castle was home to St. Hilary's, a girls' school evacuated from Edinburgh. The 15th Earl and Countess of Lauderdale lived in the north wing of the castle, while the school used the rest. The dorms were on the upper floors, while the main rooms were classrooms. The great dining room was used as the school dining room and assembly hall. St. Hilary's remained at Thirlestane until the end of 1944 when they returned to Edinburgh.
The castle today
Captain
Gerald Maitland-Carew inherited the castle in 1972 from his maternal grandmother, Ethel, Countess of Lauderdale, wife of the
15th Earl. At this time, the castle was in a serious state of disrepair, requiring extensive renovation. In 1984 the castle was given to a
charitable trust established to ensure its preservation, and major repairs were carried out, assisted by financial grants awarded by the
Historic Buildings Council
Three separate historic buildings councils were created by the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953, one for each of England, Scotland, and Wales. Each Historic Buildings Council advised the relevant government minister on the exercise ...
and the
National Heritage Memorial Fund
The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund which had fulfilled the ...
.
In addition to the grounds, the castle itself and its interiors, Thirlestane is noted for fine collections of
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
s,
furniture
Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating ( tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks) ...
,
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
and an historic
toy collection. In 2016 the castle is open to visitors from 3 May until 2 October (Tuesday to Thursday and Sundays).
In June 2021, planning permission was granted to Lauderdale Estates to construct holiday lodges in the Castle grounds.
References
External links
Thirlestane Castle website Gazetteer for Scotland
* Groundplan of English fort, plate 66 i
Hale, John Rigby, ''Renaissance War Studies'', Hambledon (1983) Clan Maitland Society web site
See also
*
List of places in the Scottish Borders
''Map of places in the Scottish Borders compiled from this list'':See the list of places in Scotland for places in other counties.
This list of places in the Scottish Borders includes towns, villages, hamlets, castles, golf courses, historic ho ...
{{Castles in the Scottish Borders
Castles in the Scottish Borders
Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders
Listed castles in Scotland
Country houses in the Scottish Borders
William Bruce buildings
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Gardens in the Scottish Borders
Historic house museums in the Scottish Borders
Castles and forts of the Rough Wooing