Nether Horsburgh Castle facts for kids
Nether Horsburgh Castle is a cool old ruined tower house found near Cardrona in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It's about 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles) southwest of the town of Peebles, right next to a farm called Nether Horsburgh Farm. You can usually visit it if you ask permission from the farm first.
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What is Nether Horsburgh Castle?
Nether Horsburgh Castle is what's left of a rectangular tower house built in the 1500s. It sits in a green valley, looking over the River Tweed, with a small stream called the Hope Burn flowing nearby.
Originally, this tower house wasn't just one building. It had a courtyard and other buildings attached to it. You can still see some signs of these old structures north of the main tower.
What's left of the castle?
Today, only three of the castle's walls are still standing. They reach up to about 12 meters (39 feet) high. The east wall has completely fallen down to the ground.
The part that's left measures about 10 meters (33 feet) by 8 meters (26 feet). Its walls are quite thick, about 1.2 meters (4 feet) wide! People think the tower used to be four stories tall. The main entrance was probably on the northeast side, at ground level. This led into a cellar with a curved stone ceiling and narrow windows shaped like slits. It looks like there was a staircase in the east wall that led to the upper floors.
There was also a small courtyard made by other buildings. These buildings stretched about 14 meters (46 feet) to the east, then 22 meters (72 feet) to the north. Today, only a small piece of the northern part of this courtyard remains. It now forms part of the fence around the field where the castle stands.
Because it's an important historical site, Nether Horsburgh Castle is protected as a scheduled monument. This means it's a special place that must be preserved.
History of the Castle
The Horsburgh family, a well-known family from the Scottish Borders, built and lived in this castle. However, as their family fortunes went down, they eventually sold the castle to Sir Robert Stewart of Shillingshaws.
The Horsburgh family owned other castles in the same area of Peebleshire.
- Less than 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) to the west, on a grassy hill, you can find the remains of another small tower and wing. This is Horsburgh Castle, also from the 1500s.
- Just north of Peebles, high up on Mailingsland Hill, are the remains of Hutchinfield Tower. This is a very ruined, oblong building, also from the 1500s.
Images for kids
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The castle from the east
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Southeast view
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Northwest view
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Castle is to the left of farm.
