Floors Castle, in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the

Duke of Roxburghe The Duke of Roxburghe () is a title in the peerage of Scotland created in 1707 along with the titles ''Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford'', ''Earl of Kelso'' and ''Viscount Broxmouth''. John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe became the first holder ...

. Despite its name it is an

estate house An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner. British context In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...

rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for Duke John, possibly incorporating an 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 ...

. In the 19th century it was embellished with turrets and battlements, designed by

William Playfair William Playfair (22 September 1759 – 11 February 1823), a Scottish engineer and political economist, served as a secret agent on behalf of Great Britain during its war with France. The founder of graphical methods of statistics, Playfai ...

, for The 6th Duke of Roxburghe. Floors has the common 18th-century layout of a main block with two symmetrical service wings. Floors Castle stands by the bank of 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 ...

and overlooks the

Cheviot Hills The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes T ...

to the south. Floors Castle is now 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 ...

, and the grounds are listed in the ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes'', the national listing of significant gardens in Scotland. It is open to the public.

History

Background

The Ker family, Earls and Dukes of Roxburghe, have held lands in Roxburghshire since the 12th century. Their origins are not certain, but they were likely of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

stock originally. Since the accession of Sir James Innes as Duke in 1812, they have used the double-barelled name "Innes-Ker". The name of Floors Castle is thought to come either from "flowers" (or the French ''fleurs''), or from the "floors", or terraces, on which the castle is built.

Early history

Although the present castle lacks all defensive capabilities, and was built in a period when private fortresses had become obsolete in lowland Scotland, there was possibly a

on the site. Tower houses, or pele towers, were typical of 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 ...

. Until the early seventeenth century, the

Anglo-Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to ...

lands, or "Marches", were a lawless place where reprisal attacks were common, and which often took the form of cattle rustling or murders, carried on by gangs of

Reivers Border reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border ...

. Floors also stands opposite the site of

Roxburgh Castle Roxburgh Castle is a ruined royal castle that overlooks the junction of the rivers Tweed and Teviot, in the Borders region of Scotland. The town and castle developed into the royal burgh of Roxburgh, which the Scots destroyed along with the ca ...

, an important medieval fortress where

King James II James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

was killed during a siege in 1460. The lands of Floors were held by the monks of Kelso Abbey, until the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, when they were handed to Robert Ker of Cessford (1570–1650, later the first Earl of Roxburghe) by

King James VI 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 ...

The country house

John, Earl of Roxburghe (1680–1741), played a role in securing the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

of England and Scotland in 1707, and was rewarded by being created Duke of Roxburghe. He commissioned the Scottish architect William Adam (1689–1748), father of

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 o ...

, to design a new mansion incorporating the earlier tower house. It was built between 1721 and 1726, and comprised a plain block, with towers at each corner. Pavilions on either side housed stables and kitchens. Around 1837, the 6th Duke (1816–1879) commissioned the fashionable architect

to remodel and rebuild the plain

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

mansion house he had inherited. The present form of the building is the result of Playfair's work, and is in a similar style to his buildings at

Donaldson's College Donaldson's School, in Linlithgow is Scotland's national residential and day school, providing education, therapy and care for pupils who are deaf or who have communication difficulties. History The School's foundation, 1851 Donaldson's School ...

, Edinburgh. In 1903, Duke Henry married the American heiress

Mary Goelet Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe ( Goelet; October 6, 1878 – April 26, 1937) was an American-born heiress and socialite who married into Scottish nobility. Early life Mary Goelet was born in 1878. Her parents were Mary Wilson Goelet (185 ...

. She brought with her from her

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

home a set of Gobelins Manufactory tapestries, that were incorporated into the ballroom in the 1930s, and added to the collection several modern pictures by

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

, among others.

In popular culture

The castle featured in the 1984 movie '' Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes'' and was also featured on an episode of "An American Aristocrat's Guide to Great Estates" on the

Smithsonian Channel The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facili ...

and

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

: it first aired in 2020. Floors Castle Morris edited.jpg, Floors Castle in 1880, viewed across the Tweed Floors Castle4.jpg, Floors Castle 10th Duke of Roxburghe 4 Allan Warren.jpg, Guy, 10th Duke of Roxburghe outside Floors Castle, by

Allan Warren Michael Allan Warren (born 26 October 1948) is an English portrait photographer, primarily known for his images of members of high society. An actor and talent manager in his youth, he rose to prominence for portraits of British nobility, pol ...

References

External links

* * RCAHMS Images on line, including historic photos, aerial views, and architectural drawings {{Castles in the Scottish Borders Castles in the Scottish Borders Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Country houses in the Scottish Borders Gardens in the Scottish Borders Historic house museums in the Scottish Borders Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Kelso, Scottish Borders Listed houses in Scotland William Adam buildings