Wedderburn Castle, near Duns,

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 ...

, in the Scottish

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, is an 18th-century country house that is now used as a wedding and events venue. The house is 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 I ...

and the grounds are included in the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

History

Wedderburn Castle is the historic family seat of the Home of Wedderburn family, cadets of the Home family (today Earls of Home). It was designed and constructed 1771–1775 by the famous architect brothers

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

and James Adam, with the work superintendent being architect James Nisbet of Kelso, for

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who had already completed

Paxton House Paxton House may refer to: ;in Scotland *Paxton House, Berwickshire Paxton House is a historic house at Paxton, Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders, a few miles south-west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, overlooking the River Tweed. It is a country ...

(using James Adam and Nisbet from 1758, with Robert Adam doing the interiors ). With battlemented three-storey elevations in the typical Adam Castle style, the apparent symmetry of Wedderburn Castle conceals a rectangular courtyard, originally filled by the 17th-century (or earlier)

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 ...

, also known as Wedderburn Castle, of which only a heraldic panel remains. It was demolished in the early 19th century, leaving the courtyard accessed through an archway at the back.

The approach

The castle is approached by way of the north or Lion Gate of 1794 designed by

John Plaw John Plaw (1745-1820) was an architect who was born in London but later emigrated to the Colony of Prince Edward Island in North America. He is known for favouring circular designs in the classical style. There are two known surviving examples ...

(see photograph at left) and the long drive (leading from the West gate), which passes the 18th-century stables (a square court entered through a pedimented archway) and the staff cottages, before continuing to the castle. The West Gate is another archway, but defined by screen walls and gabled lodges.

The castle interior

Entering the front of the castle through a large porch (above which is the Home of Wedderburn coat of arms), there is a double staircase with an iron balustrade leading up to a balcony, behind which is a long gallery connecting the drawing room and the dining room. Across the hall and above the front door is a long minstrel gallery, again connecting the drawing room and the dining room. On the right of the staircase are the drawing room, and the morning room (previously the smoking room), beyond which is the ballroom. There are several fine chimneypieces, the best being in the drawing room of white

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence. Its mot ...

marble and various other materials by

Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheri ...

from 1774. To the left are the dining room, and a further staircase leading up to the bedrooms. The ground floor has a large kitchen and further bedrooms, originally for servants. Home of Wedderburn COA

The owners

The Earls of Douglas had the feudal superiority of the lands of Wedderburn circa 1413, when

Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, Duke of Touraine (c. 1369 – 17 August 1424), was a Scottish nobleman and warlord. He is sometimes given the epithet "Tyneman" ( Old Scots: Loser), but this may be a reference to his great-uncle Sir A ...

granted them as a feu to "his esquire, David de Home". In a charter dated at Dunbar Castle 29 February 1413, George de Dunbar, Earl of March, confirmed the previous charter granted by "his beloved brother, Archibald, Earl of Douglas", the superiority having passed, by forfeiture, from the Dunbar family to Douglas. By 1550 the Homes had acquired the superiority of Wedderburn, as is indicated by a

Sasine Sasine in Scots law is the delivery of feudal property, typically land. Feudal property means immovable property, and includes everything that naturally goes with the property. For land, that would include such things as buildings, trees, and unde ...

in favour of David Home, brother-german (full brother) and heir of George Home of Wedderburn (who was killed at the Battle of Pinkie), wherein it is stated that the heir and his brother held it of the Crown in chief.

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 ...

came to Wedderburn Castle in November 1566 and rode to Halidon Hill. She met John Foster, Marshal of Berwick.Thomas Thomson, ''James Melville, Memoirs of his own life'' (Edinburgh, 1827), p. 173. Daughters of this branch of the Home family would keep Home and add it to their married name – hence subsequent generations of the family having variations including Forman Home, Milne Home, Home Robertson, and Home Miller. From 1898 until 1973, Wedderburn was let to the Arbuthnots. From 1973 until 2010 it was owned by Georgina Home Robertson. The current owners are David Home Miller and Catherine Macdonald-Home.

Citations

References

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External links

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GEOGRAPH image: Looking over Cairnhill lands through the haze to Wedderburn Castle
{{Castles in the Scottish Borders Country houses in the Scottish Borders Castles in the Scottish Borders Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed houses in Scotland Berwickshire Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Robert Adam buildings