Borthwick Castle

Infobox Military Structure
name=Borthwick Castle
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caption=Borthwick Castle in the snow


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type=Castle
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built=1430
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height=90 feet (area - battlements)
used=1430-?
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condition=
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open_to_public=
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Borthwick Castle is one of the largest and best preserved surviving medieval Scottish fortifications. [Chambers 1828, p.99] It is located twelve miles (19 km) south-east of Edinburgh, [cite book |title=The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland |last=Billings |first=Robert William |authorlink=Robert William Billings |coauthors=John Hill Burton |year=1901 |publisher=Oliver and Boyd |location= |isbn= |pages= ] to the east of the village of Borthwick, on a site protected on three sides by a steep fall in the ground. It was constructed in 1430 for Sir William Borthwick, from whom the castle takes its name, [Scott 1834, p.196] [Chambers 1828, p.100]

History

The castle was built at the at the site of an earlier structure, and it remains the Borthwick family ancestral seat. Sir William Borthwick obtained from King James I on June 2 1430 a license to erect on the Mote of Locherwart, a castle or fortalice. [Scott 1834, p.197 ] This was unusual in Scotland as nobles generally did not need to get permission for the building and fortifying of a Castle. [Scott 1834, p.198] He acquired a large part of Locherworth from his neighbour William Hay who was resentful of this and jealous of his neighbours castle. [Scott 1834, p.200] The well-preserved medieval effigies of the builder and his lady can be seen in the nearby parish kirk of St Kentigern, which retains a 15th century aisle also probably built by him.It was originally a stone enclosure fortress centring on an unusually tall tower house with walls up to convert|14|ft|m thick and convert|110|ft|m in height. The design is a 'U-shaped' keep with a convert|12|ft|m|sing=on gap between the projecting, slightly asymmetrical, towers. There was a surrounding defensive courtyard with round towers pierced with shot-holes at the corners. While the tower-house itself is exceptionally well-preserved for its date, the surrounding wall and towers are much restored.

Borthwick Castle was visited twice by Mary I of Scotland, in 1563 and 1567, when she was besieged inside while under the protection of 6th Lord Borthwick. [cite book|last=Strickland|first=Agnes|title=Lives of the Queens of Scotland and English Princesses Connected with the Regal Succession of Great Britain|publisher=Harper & brothers|date=1855|pages=274] She escaped the siege by disguising herself as a page. [cite book |title=Black's Picturesque Tourist of Scotland|last=Black |first=Charles |authorlink=Charles Black |year=1878 |publisher=A & C Black|location= |isbn=] [Tytler 1840, p.128] In 1650 the Castle was attacked by Oliver Cromwell's forces, and was surrendered after only a few cannon shots. [cite book |title=The Picture of Scotland |last=Chambers |first=Robert |authorlink=Robert Chambers |coauthors=|year=1828 |publisher=William Tait |location= |isbn= |pages=100-101] The damage to the walls from this attack is still visible. [Scott 1834, p.211]

After a period of abandonment, the Castle was restored by 1914. During World War II the structure was used as a hiding place to store national treasures. In 1973 it was leased from the Borthwick family and converted into a hotel catering mainly for castle weddings in a medieval setting. [cite web |url=http://www.borthwickcastle.com/weddings.html |title=Borthwick castle site - weddings]

Building

Borthwick Castle is built as a double tower, convert|74|ft|m long, convert|68|ft|m in breadth and convert|90|ft|m high. [Scott 1834, p.198] The castle is on a small hill surrounded by a stream.Apart from the large cannon-scar on one face, the walls, built of fine sandstone ashlar, are virtually complete, and very unusually, none of the original narrow windows have been enlarged. The battlements, however, no longer survive to their original height, having lost their stepped crenelations. They are carried on massive projecting corbels with corner roundels. The tower has two doorways, both unaltered and round-headed. One at ground-level leads into the partly-subterranean kitchen and storage-vaults. The second is directly above it at first-floor level, and leads directly into the stone-vaulted great hall. It is approached by a reconstructed stone bridge.

Great Hall

The Great hall of Borthwick Castle is convert|40|ft|m long and of great height. The barrelled Gothic ceiling is painted with pictures of the castle and 'De Temple of Honor' in Gothic characters is visible. [Scott 1834, p.215] [*cite book |title=Dream Sleeps: Castle & Palace Hotels of Europe|last=Barrus |first=Pamela |authorlink=Pamela Barrus |coauthors=|year=1998 |publisher=Carousel Press |location= |isbn=0917120167 |pages=149] The chimney which is also on a large scale is covered by designs. [The Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland. (Glasgow: A. Fullarton, n.d. (ca.1840), p.155.]

References

*cite book |title=The Miscellaneous Prose Works of Sir Walter Scott, Bart |last=Scott |first=Walter |authorlink=Walter Scott |year=1834 |publisher= |location= |isbn=
*cite book |title=History of Scotland|last=Tytler |first=Patrick Fraser |authorlink=Patrick Fraser Tytler |year=1840 |publisher=William Tait |location= |isbn=
*cite book |title=The Picture of Scotland |last=Chambers |first=Robert |authorlink=Robert Chambers |coauthors=|year=1828 |publisher=William Tait |location= |isbn=

External links

* [http://www.borthwickcastle.com/ Borthwick Castle official page]
* [http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/featurefirst6425.html Overview of Borthwick Castle]