Floors Castle
Encyclopedia
Kelso, Scotland
Kelso is a market town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies where the rivers Tweed and Teviot have their confluence...
, south-east Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe
Duke of Roxburghe
The Duke of Roxburghe is a title in the peerage of Scotland created in 1707 along with the titles Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford, Earl of Kelso and Viscount Broxmouth. John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe became the first holder of these titles...
. Despite its name it is a country house, rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for the 1st Duke, possibly incorporating an earlier tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
. In the 19th century it was embellished with turrets and battlements by William Playfair
William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair FRSE was one of the greatest Scottish architects of the 19th century, designer of many of Edinburgh's neo-classical landmarks in the New Town....
for the 6th Duke. Floors has the common 18th-century layout of a main block with two symmetrical service wings. Floors Castle lies on the River Tweed
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
and overlooks the Cheviot Hills
Cheviot Hills
The Cheviot Hills is a range of rolling hills straddling the England–Scotland border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.There is a broad split between the northern and the southern Cheviots...
.
Floors Castle is now a category A listed building, and the grounds are listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, the national listing of significant gardens in Scotland. It is open to the public. The castle featured in the 1984 movie Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes.
Background
The Dukes of Roxburghe, formerly Earls of Roxburghe, are members of the Innes-Ker, formerly Ker family, a branch of the Kerr familyClan Kerr
Clan Kerr is a Scottish clan that played an important role in the history of the Border country of Scotland.-Origins:The origins of the name Kerr are disputed as being either:*Caer *Ciar...
. James Innes, on succeeding as 5th Duke
James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke of Roxburghe
James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke of Roxburghe was a Scottish nobleman.He was the eldest surviving son of Sir Henry Innes, 5th Baronet , and Anne Drummonda Grant . He succeeded to the Baronetcy on his father's death...
in 1812, and inheriting the estates and peerages through the female line, was obliged to change his name to Innes-Ker, and thus ceased to be the chief
Scottish clan chief
The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder, and...
of Clan Innes
Clan Innes
Clan Innes is a Scottish clan. The clan is without a chief that is recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms therefore it can be considered an armigerous clan. The clan takes its name from the lands of Innes in Moray, Scotland....
, since he now bore a double-barrelled name
Double-barrelled name
In English speaking and some other Western countries, a double-barrelled name is a family name with two parts, which may or may not be joined with a hyphen and is also known as a hyphenated name. An example of a hyphenated double-barrelled surname is Bowes-Lyon; an example of an unhyphenated...
. Floors Castle, is a reminder of the Auld Alliance
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France. It played a significant role in the relations between Scotland, France and England from its beginning in 1295 until the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh. The alliance was renewed by all the French and Scottish monarchs of that...
between France and Scotland that existed for many years, and which culminated in the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the French Dauphin François
Francis II of France
Francis II was aged 15 when he succeeded to the throne of France after the accidental death of his father, King Henry II, in 1559. He reigned for 18 months before he died in December 1560...
.
The name is thought to come either from "flowers" (or the French fleurs), or from the "floors", or terraces, on which the castle is built.
Early history
Although the present Castle lacks all defensive capabilities, and was built in a period when private fortresses were redundant in lowland Scotland, there was possibly a tower houseTower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
on the site. Tower houses, or pele towers, were typical of the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
. Until the early seventeenth century, the Anglo-Scottish border
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land 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
Roxburgh Castle
Roxburgh Castle was a castle sited near Kelso, in the Borders region of Scotland, in the former Roxburghshire.-History:The castle was founded by King David I. 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...
, an important medieval fortress where King James II
James II of Scotland
James II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...
was killed during a siege in 1460.
The lands of Floors were held by the monks of Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey is what remains of a Scottish abbey founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Scotland in the reign of Alexander I. It occupies ground overlooking the confluence of the Tweed and Teviot waters, the site of what was once the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...
, until the Reformation
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
, when they were handed to Robert Ker of Cessford
Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe
Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe was a Scottish nobleman. He was the eldest son of William Ker of Cessford , and grandson of Sir Walter Ker of Cessford , who fought against Mary, Queen of Scots, both at Carberry Hill and at Langside.He helped James VI against Bothwell...
(1570–1650, later the 1st Earl of Roxburghe) by King James VI
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
.
The country house
The 5th Earl of RoxburgheJohn Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe
John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe, PC, FRS was the second son of Robert Ker, 3rd Earl of Roxburghe, and Margaret Hay, daughter of John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale. He was younger brother to Robert Ker, 4th Earl of Roxburghe....
(1680–1741) played a role in securing the Union
Acts of Union 1707
The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...
of England and Scotland in 1707, and was rewarded by being created 1st Duke of Roxburghe. He commissioned the Scottish architect William Adam (1689–1748), father of Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
, to design 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
James Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe
James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe, KT was a Scottish peer.Innes-Ker was the only surviving child of the 5th Duke of Roxburghe and was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He inherited his father's titles in 1823 and on 29 December 1836, he married Susanna Stephania...
(1816–1879) commissioned the fashionable architect William Playfair
William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair FRSE was one of the greatest Scottish architects of the 19th century, designer of many of Edinburgh's neo-classical landmarks in the New Town....
to remodel and rebuild the plain Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
mansion house he had inherited. The present form of the building is the result of Playfair's work, and is in a similar style to his buildings at Donaldson's College
Donaldson's College
Donaldson's School, in Linlithgow is Scotland's national residential and day school, providing education, therapy and care for pupils who are deaf or who have communication difficulties.-Headteacher and management team:...
, Edinburgh. In 1903, the 8th Duke
Henry Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe
Henry John Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe was a Scottish peer. He was the son of James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 7th Duke of Roxburghe and Anne Emily Spencer-Churchill. His first cousin was Winston Churchill...
married the American heiress May Goelet. She brought with her from her Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
home a set of Gobelins
Gobelins manufactory
The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins métro station in the XIIIe arrondissement...
tapestries, that were incorporated into the ballroom in the 1930s, and added to the collection several modern pictures by Walter Sickert
Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert , born in Munich, Germany, was a painter who was a member of the Camden Town Group in London. He was an important influence on distinctively British styles of avant-garde art in the 20th century....
and Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, among others.
External links
- Floors Castle web site
- RCAHMS Images on line, including historic photos, aerial views, and architectural drawings