Castles & Towers of Scotland

HERMITAGE CASTLE

Hermitage is a very fine and sizeable castle of the 14^th and 15^th centuries, and stands by the side of the Hermitage Water. The low arched doorway leads to the courtyard, at one time the centre of a 14^th century tower house. This was greatly extended in the late 14^th and 15^th centuries to form the present elaborate plan, with four towers at the corners and the great oversailing arches between them on the west and east facades.

The Dacre family using English masons probably erected the oldest surviving part of the castle around 1350. The castle soon passed to the Douglases, who remained until 1492, creating what we see today. In 1491 James IV ordered them to surrender the castle to the Hepburns of Bothwell, with the Douglases receiving Bothwell Castle in exchange. In 1540 the castle was taken over by the Crown, though the Hepburns still held it. Mary, Queen of Scots visited the Earl of Bothwell here on 15 October 1566. The castle was acquired by the Scotts around 1600, but was then abandoned. The Duke of Buccleuch made some restorations in 1820 and it passed into care in 1930.