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Roxburgh Castle

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24-605: 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 castle after capturing it in 1460. Today the ruins stand in the grounds of Floors Castle , the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe , across the river from Kelso . Tradition states that King David I founded

48-549: A drumlin field . It is the relic of a paleo- ice stream that flowed through the area during the last glaciation. Major towns through which the Tweed flows include Innerleithen , Peebles , Galashiels , Melrose , Kelso , Coldstream and Berwick-upon-Tweed , where it flows into the North Sea . Tweed tributaries include: The upper parts of the catchment of the Tweed in Scotland form

72-450: A blacksmith's forge and a bulwark to the south to give access to drinking water. This fort was destroyed in 1550 by the terms of the Treaty of Boulogne . The ruins of Roxburgh Castle stand in the grounds of Floors Castle , the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe . These consist of a large mound, with some small fragments of stone walls, especially on the south side. The 1314 capture of the castle

96-423: A force of northerners, he left the battlefield and his army dispersed, leaving behind his expensive German equipment. The Scots again besieged Roxburgh in 1460; in the course of the action metal fragments from the explosion of one of his bombards killed King James II of Scotland . However, the Scots stormed Roxburgh , capturing it, and James' queen, Mary of Guelders , had the castle demolished. In 1545, during

120-458: 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 William Henry Playfair to remodel and rebuild the plain Georgian mansion house he had inherited. The present form of

144-531: A night attack. His men clothed in black cloaks were apparently mistaken for cattle. They then used rope and board ladders to climb the walls. King Robert the Bruce ordered the castle demolished by his brother Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick , and in the words of the Lanercost Chronicle "all that beautiful castle the Scots pulled down to the ground, like the other castles that they had succeeded in capturing, lest

168-595: A non-Celtic form of the Indo-European root *teuha- meaning "swell, grow powerful". The River Tweed flows primarily through the scenic Borders region of Scotland. Eastwards from the settlements on opposing banks of Birgham and Carham it forms the historic boundary between Scotland and England. It rises in the Lowther Hills at Tweed's Well near to where the Clyde , draining northwest (10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from

192-451: A siege of the castle. The king had gathered a huge army, sporting “...fine, large guns, both cannons and mortars”, manned by German gun crews under the command of Johannes Paule “Master of the King’s engines”. There was also a substantial contingent of Highlanders and Islesmen and archers brought by Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross (who brought 3,000 men to the siege), as well as men-at-arms from

216-454: Is expected to be completed during 2028. Floors Castle Floors Castle , in Roxburghshire , south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe . Despite its name it is an estate house rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe , possibly incorporating an earlier tower house . In the 19th century it

240-517: Is one of the inspirations of "The Three Perils of Man" by James Hogg . 55°35′47″N 2°27′24″W  /  55.59639°N 2.45667°W  / 55.59639; -2.45667 River Tweed The River Tweed , or Tweed Water , Scots : Watter o Tweid , Welsh : Tuedd ), is a river 97 miles (156 km) long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with

264-518: Is thought to come either from "flowers" (or the French fleurs ), or from the "floors", or terraces, on which the castle is built. 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 tower house on the site. Tower houses, or pele towers, were typical of the Scottish Borders . Until

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288-619: The English should ever again rule the land by holding the castles." The castle was captured by the forces of Edward III of England in 1334. Alexander Ramsay and his men recaptured Roxburgh Castle for the Scots on 30 March 1342 by means of a daring night escalade. It was retaken by the English shortly after the Battle of Neville's Cross in October 1346. A Scottish siege in 1417 necessitated repairs. In August 1436, King James I of Scotland planned to conduct

312-744: The Lowlands, including the forces of Archibald, Earl of Douglas and his distant kin and rival, William, Earl of Angus (head of the Red Douglases of Tantallon). However, the Queen arrived to warn her husband that, certain princes of the realm were conspiring against him and a plot was afoot to kill him. Given that and the king's awareness that the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Durham and the Earls of Northumberland had arrived with

336-513: The River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers of Britain and the only river in England where an Environment Agency rod licence is not required for angling . The river generates a large income for the local borders region, attracting anglers from all around the world. Tweed may represent an Old Brittonic name meaning "border". A doubtful proposal is that the name is derived from

360-590: The Tweed's Well), and the Annan draining south (1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the Tweed's Well) also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" is a saying from the Border region. East of Kelso , it becomes a section of the eastern part of the border. Entering England, its lower reaches are in Northumberland , where it enters the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed . The river east of St Boswells runs through

384-513: The area known as Tweeddale , part of which is protected as the Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area , one of 40 such areas in Scotland which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. Despite that the catchment straddles the border between Scotland and England, management of it – in terms of water quality, bio-security, and ultimately protection of

408-524: The building is the result of Playfair's work, and is in a similar style to his buildings at Donaldson's College , Edinburgh. In 1903, Duke Henry married the American heiress Mary Goelet . She brought with her from her Long Island 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 and Henri Matisse , among others. The castle featured in

432-435: The castle; it is first recorded in c.1128 during his reign. In 1174, it was surrendered to England after the capture of William I at Alnwick , and was often in English hands thereafter. The Scots made many attempts to regain the fortress. King Edward I of England imprisoned Mary Bruce in a cage hung outside the castle from 1306 to 1310. On 19 February 1314, it was retaken by Sir James Douglas (the "Black Douglas"), in

456-469: The early seventeenth century, the Anglo-Scottish border 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 . Floors also stands opposite the site of Roxburgh Castle , an important medieval fortress where King James II was killed during a siege in 1460. The lands of Floors were held by

480-606: The monks of Kelso Abbey , until the Reformation , when they were handed to Robert Ker of Cessford (1570–1650, later the first Earl of Roxburghe) by King James VI . John, Earl of Roxburghe (1680–1741), played a role in securing the Union 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 , to design

504-466: The national listing of significant gardens in Scotland. It is open to the public. 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 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

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528-490: The salmon of the River Tweed – is overseen by a single body, the River Tweed Commission. As of 2024 , work is in progress on the development of a 113-mile (182 km) walking and cycling route following the length of the river from Moffat to Berwick-on-Tweed. The work includes new sections of path, upgrades to existing paths, bridge replacement and repairs, pedestrian road crossings, lighting and signage. The path

552-686: The war of the Rough Wooing , more accurately known as the Nine Years' War, the English garrison commanded by Ralph Bulmer built a rectangular fort on the site at the instigation of the Earl of Hertford . In 1547, Hertford ordered the surveyor William Ridgeway and the Master Carpenter John Revell to build to a brewhouse, using a frame made for Wark Castle . Bulmer complained that Ridgeway's visits were infrequent and works incomplete. He wanted to build

576-603: Was embellished with turrets and battlements, designed by William Playfair , 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 and overlooks the Cheviot Hills to the south. Floors Castle is now a category A listed building , and the grounds are listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes ,

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