Hermitage Castle. Hermitage Castle is a semi-ruined castle in the border region of Scotland. It is under the care of Historic Scotland. The Castle has a reputation, both from its history and its appearance, as one of the most sinister and atmospheric in Scotland. History[edit] Origins of the name[edit] It is thought that the name derives from Old French: l'armitage – guardhouse. Hermitage Castle was supposedly built by one Nicholas de Soulis around 1240, in a typical Norman Motte and Bailey pattern. Under the Douglases[edit] In 1338, the then incumbent, Englishman Sir Ralph de Neville was besieged by Sir William Douglas, The Knight of Liddesdale, known as the "Flower of Chivalry" (this sobriquet had to do with his abilities as a knight, although it is often misinterpreted by people with a rather romantic view of history). Under the Hepburns[edit] In time, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell held the castle. Under the Scotts[edit] Decline[edit] Hermitage Castle in 1814.
Today[edit] Gallery[edit] See also[edit] Scottish Castles Photo Library - Hermitage Castle, Scottish Borders. Hermitage Castle is remote. Even travelling there today by motor car, it seems to take forever to reach it, along narrow, single-track roads. It must have been even more remote on horseback or on foot. But it is in a key location controlling Liddesdale - and is close to the English border.
The first fortification was probably a timber structure made around 1240 by Sir Nicholas de Soules who was the King's butler or chamberlain. He was a later a claimant to the throne of Scotland and his son was later accused of conspiring to murder King Robert the Bruce and seize the throne himself. When the Wars of Independence broke out in 1296, Hermitage was on the front line and the castle changed hands several times.
Sir William Douglas captured the castle in 1338 but King David II subsequently made Sir Alexander Ramsay sheriff of Teviotdale. Patrick Hepburn, the first Earl of Bothwell, now took over Hermitage Castle and also owned Crichton Castle in Midlothian, not far from Edinburgh. Hermitage Castle - Roxburghshire. A vast and eerie ruin of the 14th and 15th centuries, Hermitage is associated with the de Soulis, the Douglases and Mary Queen of Scots. Hermitage Castle is found in a beautiful rural location in Liddesdale and its turbulent history has led to it being described as ‘the guardhouse of the bloodiest valley in Britain’. Partly restored in the 19th century, the castle was originally built by Lord de Soules in the 1240s.
For most of its existence, the castle was the key to controlling the Scottish Middle March. The castle also has a romantic past, with the Mary of Queen of Scots visiting her secret lover, the 4th Earl of Bothwell here when he was injured and on his sickbed. Sir Walter Scott was also fond of this castle and had himself painted with it in the background. Nearby is the 14th century Hermitage Chapel. Hermitage Castle is not easily accessible to visitors using wheelchairs or with limited mobility. Hermitage Castle Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland. Hermitage Castle is a forbidding and oppressive place. Seen from the east or west the architecture seems utterly brutal: sheer walls relieved only by a blind arch. Radio Scotland once broadcast a feature in which Hermitage Castle was described as the embodiment of the phrase "sod off" in stone. It's a difficult description to better. The unusual architecture, designed to allow wooden fighting platforms to run the length of the outside of the tops of the walls, is partly responsible for Hermitage Castle's remarkable atmosphere.
So is the ballad writer Dr John Leyden, a friend of Sir Walter Scott. He elaborated on Hermitage's pretty unpleasant history, producing tales of myth and magic that have become confused with reality over the years since. The setting also does the castle few favours. A wooden castle was first built on this spot by Nicholas de Soulis in 1242.
In 1338 the castle was captured by Sir William Douglas. Hermitage Castle fell into disuse in the early 1600s. Hermitage Castle Property Detail. Hermitage Castle. Many a warrior, no doubt, lies buried in the graveyard of Hermitage chapel, but I do not think any tombstones of very great age have ever been found. Outside, however, between the wall of the burial ground and the river, there is an interesting mound, the reputed grave of the famous Cout o' Keilder. Keilder is a district of Northumberland adjoining Peel Fell, and in the day of the wizard Soulis, that iniquitous lord's most noted adversary was the chief of Keilder, locally called, from his great size and strength and activity, " the Cout.
" In his last desperate fight with Soulis and his followers on the banks of Hermitage Water, the Cout was hewing a bloody path through the press of men, towards his chief enemy, when weight of numbers forced him, like a wounded stag, to take to the water. Here on the grassy bank, hard by what is still called " The Cout o' Keilder's pool," is his grave. Overview of Hermitage Castle. Located 5 miles (8 km) north of Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders, Hermitage Castle lies at a strategic position in an area that has been in dispute between England and Scotland for centuries. The castle defended the route north from Liddesdale, one of the few ways to enter Scotland, known as the Middle Marches. This massive edifice is a remnant of the 14th and 15th centuries and work undertaken by the Douglas family. The first castle on this site was begun around 1240 by Sir Nicholas de Soules and some associated earthworks remain.
During the Wars of Independence, the castle changed hands regularly, coming into the possession of Sir William Douglas in 1338. The oldest parts of the present structure are believed to date from 1350 and the ownership of the English Dacre family. Reclaimed by the Earls of Douglas in 1371, but the 5th Earl was forced to exchange it for Bothwell Castle (South Lanarkshire) in 1492. Photographs of Hermitage Castle. Hermitage Castle. This image is the copyright of Andrew Spratt who has generously given permission to display it here. The Castle of Hermitage, now a ruined structure, stands in the southern part of Roxburghshire, a few miles froth Riccarton Junction, near Hermitage Water, which is formed by Twistlehope Burn and Braidley Burn, and becomes a tributary of Liddel River.
It flows, therefore, through Liddesdale, and is not far from the Border between Scotland and England in the olden time. It seems probable that the site of the Castle was chosen because it lies between the two streams named, and these would not only form a protection from attack, but also furnish an ample supply of water for the ditches by which the Castle was surrounded. Sir William de Douglas, the Knight of Liddesdale, was born about 1300, and was so brave and successful in war that he was styled by his contemporaries "the Flower of Chivalry. " Hermitage Castle | My Blog.
The 20-mile valley of Liddesdale runs south-west through the Scottish Borders, right to the northern edge of England. Because it offered a passageway into Scotland for English armies, Liddesdale was of huge strategic importance to the two, often-warring countries. In his book The Steel Bonnets, about the Border Reivers, the brigands who from the 13th to 17th centuries raided homesteads along the English-Scottish frontier, George Macdonald Fraser described it as ‘the bloodiest valley in Britain’. When the Scots decided to build a fortress in the valley in the 13th century – a move that itself almost sparked a war with England – they erected something that did justice to a territory with such a history of conflict and bloodshed.
Hermitage Castle is about the grimmest and most oppressive castle I’ve come across. The Hermitage Castle that stands today is actually the second one on the site. The castle later became the property of Sir Patrick Hepburn, the 1st Earl of Bothwell. Travels in Scotland : Castles and Towers : Hermitage Castle. Hume appears to be a solid block of stone, but was originally corner towers with walls between A very impressive, and oppressive fortress, Hermitage Castle consists of a 13th century courtyard and a large 14th century keep of four stories, around which a huge castle was eventually built. Small rectangular towers were added to each corner and the entrance was guarded by two portcullis (portcullises? Portcullii?). The walls have tiny windows and many splayed gun loops. Holes on the outside of the towers show that a timber gallery projected from the entire structure.
The property on which Hermitage is built once belonged to the D'Acres, but passed to the deSoulis family. Scaffolding for wall repairs, on the inner wall of the castle The castle passed to the Grahams then to the Douglases. Archibald, 5th Earl of Douglas, exchanged Hermitage with Bothwell. The castle is reputed to be haunted. The two towers and connecting walls are visible from this rear view. Hermitage Castle, Scottish Borders. Hermitage Castle has a forbidding appearance and oppressive atmosphere, partly due to its history of treachery and partly the stories written about it. The bleak fortress, set high in the valley next to the beautiful Hermitage Water is surrounded by open moorland. Its strategic location was the key to the control over Liddesdale and the border area during the wars between Scotland and England.
It changed hands between the two several times. Its unusual architecture allowed wooden fighting platforms to run the length of the outside of the tops of the walls. The original wooden castle was built in the 1240s by Nicholas De Soulis. After its owner William Douglas was killed in 1353 for defecting to the English side, the new owner, Hugh De Dacre replaced the timber castle with a stone one. In 1371 Hermitage Castle was inherited by the first Earl of Douglas who rebuilt it as a much stronger stone tower house.
Hermitage Castle fell into disuse in the early 1600s. Hermitage Castle (HS) | Historic Attractions | Lothian & Scottish Borders. A remote Scottish Borders Castle, Hermitage, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Although a castle has been on this site since at least the 13th century the central part, probably built under the master mason John Lewin of Durham, dates from the end of the 1300's. A local legend: The Wicked Baron. One of its earliest and most unjust owners, the wicked Baron de Soulis, had been convinced of his indestructibility by his spirit familiar, who told him that only a rope of sand could restrain him. Luckily for the local inhabitants, the wise wizard, Thomas of Ercildoune, devised a belt of lead with which he girdled the Baron while he was asleep, and into which he poured sand.
Thus restrained he was taken to an ancient stone circle, Nine Stane Rig, about 2 miles north east of the castle, and boiled to death in a vast cauldron. Throughout the 1400's possession of the castle was much fought over by the English and the Scots and additional fortifications were continuously built around the core until the final form of 1540. Opening times. Hermitage Castle Property Detail. Hermitage Castle - "The Debatable Lands" Hermitage Castle. The first Hermitage castle was a timber and earthwork castle. The Wars of Independence saw Hermitage Castle change hands several times. It came into the possession of Sir William Douglas in 1338, but after his murder in Ettrick Forest in 1353, his widow married and Englishman, Lord Dacre.
Around about 1360, Lord Dacre began to replace the timber castle with a more domestic, fortified manor house. The central cobbled courtyard was flanked on either side by a range of apartments; the ground floor contained storage cellars. Above these were the main lordly apartments, which were reached by way of the stair in the north end of the courtyard. The upper floors are now missing but the quality of the surviving work is quite exceptional. Famous Scottish Castles - Hermitage Castle near Langholm, South Scotland. HERMITAGE CASTLE.
Hermitage Castle is the spookiest castle I've ever visited. It is set off from the A7 overlooking the left bank of the Hermitage Water and is really quiet, but it feels a bit horrible and inhospitable. It was Walter Scott's favourite castle. The name 'Hermitage' probably comes from an ancient holy man who used the site near Liddel Water as a remote and isolated place for contemplation and prayer. For most of its 400-year existence, Hermitage, "the strength of Liddesdale", was the key to control over much of the Border country, due to its position. It was "the guardhouse of the bloodiest valley in Britain", between Scotland and England and as such it was highly prized and much fought over. In 1242, according to John de Fordun, the two countries came to the brink of war because of the building of Hermitage, Henry III objecting that it was too close to the border, which was then the river Liddle.
In 1338 Hermitage was attacked and damaged by Sir William Douglas. Hermitagepics Go to Castles. Attractions, Hermitage Castle and the Heritage Centre, Things to Do. The Reiver Trail - Just over 5 miles from Newcastleton in the Liddesdale valley and steeped in history and tales of witchcraft this is one place you must visit. Before Hermitage Castle was built Liddel castle stood in its place built of wood by the first baron de Soulis, history goes one of his family named Ranulf de Soulis was murdered by the Armstrongs in retaliation for the abduction of a local woman.
The story goes that Ranulf de Soulis was put to death at the Nine Stane Rig near Liddel castle by being rolled up in sheet of lead and placed in a boiling pot as they believed he was also practicing witchcraft so this would be the only way to dispose of him properly, melting him, lead, bones and all. Hermitage castle was built in a typical Norman mote and bailey style again by the powerful Norman family of de Soulis who held the Lordship of Liddesdale in 1243.
The Elliots chief at Redheugh often held the appointment of keeper of Hermitage castle and deputy keeper of Liddesdale. Site Record for Hermitage Castle Details Details. Site Type CASTLE, EARTHWORKCanmore ID 67915Site Number NY49NE 5NGR NY 49675 96047Council SCOTTISH BORDERS, THEParish CASTLETONFormer Region BORDERSFormer District ROXBURGHFormer County ROXBURGHSHIREDatum OSGB36 - NGR Canmore MappingView this site on a map Architectural Notes Archaeological Notes (Centre: NY 4967 9604) Hermitage Castle (NR) (Remains of) OS 6" map (1916-49). NY49NE 5.01 NY 496 960 Miscellaneous Finds REFERENCE: Scottish Record Office Rough Sketch of ruins GD104/262 ND EXTERNAL REFERENCE: National Library of Scotland Country Life July 16, 1948. (Undated) information in NMRS. Hermitage Castle. Hermitage Castle has two main phases, one comprising an earthwork, and the other the stone castle, but there are some plantation banks and stock enclosures overlying the outer earthworks.
NY 496 960 The cutting of channels for drainage pipes over the track leading to Hermitage Castle was monitored. Further details. Discover the Scottish Borders - Hermitage Castle - a study in belligerence. The Reiver Trail - Hermitage. Hermitage Castle » Elliot Clan Society. Hermitage Castle. Hermitage Castle, Hawick, Scottish Borders | Castles Uncovered. Hermitage Castle Steele Road Castleton Liddesdale Roxburghshire Borders Scotland Scottish. Hermitage Castle, Scotland Borders. Hermitage Castle | Historic Scotland Guide. Hermitage Castle. Paranormal Tours Ltd - Haunted Database Hermitage Castle. Murders, trysts, tortures and treason : Scotland Magazine Issue 39. The Faery Folklorist: Hermitage Castle Redcap. BBC Two - Scotland's Clans, Series 1, Clan Armstrong, Hermitage Castle.