Thornton Castle was a Scottish fortress belonging to the

Montgomery family Clan Montgomery (also Montgomerie) is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands. History Origins of the Clan The Montgomeries emigrated from Wales to Scotland in the 12th century with the Clan Stewart, FitzAlans. The Cambro-Norman family derive ...

and subsequently

Lord Home Earl of Home ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for Alexander Home of that Ilk, 6th Lord Home. The Earl of Home holds, among others, the subsidiary titles of Lord Home (created 1473), and Lord Dunglass (1605), i ...

near

Innerwick Innerwick ( gd, Inbhir Mhuice) is a coastal civil parish and small village, which lies in the east of East Lothian, from Dunbar and approximately from Edinburgh. Name The name Innerwick is of Anglo-saxon origin and means inland farm or dwel ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

. Thornton Castle was on the opposite side of Thornton Glen to

Innerwick Castle Innerwick Castle is a ruined castle in East Lothian, Scotland, near the village of Innerwick, from Dunbar, on the Thornton Burn, and overlooking Thornton Glen. The castle, built in the 14th century on "the edge of a precipitous glen", was a s ...

, which is a mile east of Innerwick village. It was blown up in September 1547.

Montgomery and Home

After the death of Hugh Montgomery of Thornton in 1477, his son and heir John Montgomery gave the lands of Nether and Over Thornton to his wife Alison Hamilton, a daughter of Archibald Hamilton of Innerwick. John Montgomery quarrelled with his father's widow Isobel Houston over farmland at Thornton and withheld her household goods including a "great dozen" of pewter vessels. He was asked to return cattle which he had stolen from the sons of

Stenton Stenton ( sco, Staneton) is a parish and village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is bounded on the north by parts of the parishes of Prestonkirk and Dunbar, on the east by Spott and on the west by Whittingehame. The name is said to be of Saxon ...

in 1482. After Montgomery stole from the lands of Hoprig at

Cockburnspath Cockburnspath ( ; sco, Co’path) is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. It is at the eastern extremity of the Southern Upland Way a long-distance footpa ...

in 1482, James III gave restitution to William Baillie by "comprising" Montgomery's lands. Alison Hamilton was confirmed as owner of the lands of Thornton in May 1502 by

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

, although the transfer of the lands by John Montgomery in 1477 was declared invalid.

Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home (c.1450s – 5 September 1506) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, Lord Chamberlain of Scotland and Warden of the Eastern March. Life Lord Home was the son of Alexander Home, Master of Home and Agnes Hepburn, ...

was given some of the lands of Thornton in 1500 and 1502, as acknowledged in Alison Hamilton's confirmation. James IV made a further grant of the lands of Thornton to

Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home (died 1516) was a Scottish soldier and nobleman, Chamberlain of Scotland and Warden of the Eastern March. He fought at the Battle of Flodden where his forces defeated the English right wing before the Scottish army ...

on 28 April 1507. This grant was made by James IV on behalf of his infant son, Prince James, who was

Steward of Scotland The title of High Steward or Great Steward is that of an officer who controls the domestic affairs of a royal household. In the 12th century King David I of Scotland gave the title to Walter fitz Alan, a nobleman from Brittany, whose descendan ...

and feudal overlord of Thornton.

Rough Wooing

Thornton Castle and Innerwick Castle were captured and destroyed by the English army before the

battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Cro ...

in September 1547, during the war known as the

Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...

. Thornton was held by Tom Trotter for

George Home, 4th Lord Home George Home, 4th Lord Home (died 1549) was a Scottish nobleman and Warden of the Eastern March. The son of Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home and his wife Nicola Ker, daughter of George Ker of Samuelston, he succeeded his brother, Alexander Home, 3 ...

. The English commander, the

Duke of Somerset 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 rank ...

sent the

Somerset Herald Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. In the year 1448 Somerset Herald is known to have served the Duke of Somerset, but by the time of the coronation of King Henry VII in 1485 his successor a ...

to Trotter to demand surrender. Trotter said he would speak with the duke, but rode away, leaving a small garrison to defend the house. Four cannons bombarded Thornton Castle while foot soldiers with

muskets A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

directed by Peter Meutas prevented the defenders shooting from the gunloops. Eventually the garrison surrendered to Miles Partridge and the castle was demolished with gunpowder.William Patten, ''The Late Expedition into Scotland'' (1548), in A. E. Pollard, ''Tudor Tracts'' (London, 1903), pp. 86–9
/ref> No visible structures remain of the castle today. Thornton in

is sometimes confused with Thorntoun in

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquart ...

References

External links

Thornton Castle, East Lothian, HES/RCAHMS Canmore

Thornton Glen, Scottish Wildlife Trust

Thornton Glen, Woodland Trust
{{coord, 55.954434, -2.425256, display=title Castles in East Lothian Castles and forts of the Rough Wooing