Our occupation of Thirlestane begins with Old Thirlestane. All that is visible today is the remains of a peel tower (a fortified tower, usually with one room per floor). This lies just less than 2 miles south east of Thirlestane Castle, on the edge of a small cliff, to the River Leader so has strong defences on one side). The present ruins are thought to date to the 15^th century, i.e. when Richard Mautalent was its lord.  However, since the records of the former lords of Thirlestane go back to the mid 12th century -1140 or thereabouts, the original tower must go back to around that period.  A charter of around 1140 given by Hugh de Morville granted the rents of Thirlestane to Elsi, later the Sheriff of Lauderdale. Elsi’s grandson, Thomas de Thirlestane was the father of Avicia, who married Sir Richard Mautalent around 1250.

The tower is 10x7.3m with an entrance at first floor level. This prevents the use of a battering ram to destroy the entrance door. With one room per floor, living conditions would have been fairly primitive.  

Bearing in mind that after the death of Thomas de Thirlestane in 1228, his widow Agnes would have shared the accommodation with at least one man at arms to defend the castle, she was clearly a formidable lady, able to control a burly warrior in her own home, and another who held the castle at Abertarff on Lochness on her behalf.  Maitlands/Mautalents lived at Old Thirlestane until around 1345, when they are recorded as holders of Lethington near Haddington.  See separate article on Lethington/Lennoxlove.

In 1450 William Mateland of Thirlestane, who was living at Lethington mortgaged Thirlestane. The loan was repaid in 1586.

Around 1586 John Maitland, now Lord Thirlestane, bought Castlehill, just outside Lauder. This was the site of the old Lauder Fort perhaps constructed ca 1100 then rebuilt by Edward II in 1324,  and converted to an artillery fortification in 1548 by the Duke of Somerset.

The castle of 1590 forms the core of the present building. It was laid out on a rectangular plan with a drum tower at each corner and a series of smaller turrets rising up the sides of the building. A cropped drawing on the left by the military engineer John Slezer of the extended castle gives an idea of its appearance in 1595. On the right, we have a picture of Traquair House, which was built at about the same time, but has not been altered since then.

The Duke of Lauderdale remodeled and extended Thirlestane in the 1670s, employing Sir William Bruce, a cousin of the Countess of Dysart and the apostle of  Scottish neo-Classicism. The archives show that he completely reordered the main facade of the castle, adding to it a pair of short wings terminating in towers or pavilions. These enclosed a balustraded terrace with a new front door approached up a central stair. A forecourt with corner turrets was built in front of the entrance staircase  and demolished in the 18^th century

Lauderdale began collecting fittings for the interior, reporting his purchase of six chimneypieces in a letter dated April 4, 1671. These were 'finer than any I see in England..I lighted on them by chance in ane ltalian merchant's hand'.

The importation of materials and craftsmanship from England and the Continent was a recurrent theme of the building work.  In February 1671, a ship, Anna, sailed to Rotterdam with coal and returned with materials not only for Thirlestane, but for the concurrent Scottish building projects of Lauderdale’s political allies. These included ‘basterd marble' for the front steps; Lauderdale considering real marble both too expensive and slippery for use at his principal castle.

On May 4, 1671, Lauderdale wrote to his brother about plans to bookend the castle with a second, library, cross-range at the east end of the castle, on the side towards the river. He cheerfully described it as 'a new whimsy for enflaming the reckoning at Thirlestane Castle’ and, explained that it would make the house look uniform from the gardens to the north and south. Sensibly, however, he determined to delay embarking on this addition: 'I will not begin it till the otherwork be finished, but being ingadged knockle-deep in morter I fear I shall be up to the elboes (if I leive) before I have done with it''   This was never done, but appears in the Slezer print of the castle

Lauderdale built a new avenue between the castle and the town of Lauder, its trees brought from Holland.  This was removed in the 18^th century, but recentlyre-instated by Edward Maitland-Carew.

From 1676 to 1679, Johan Slezer, a German military engineer, oversaw the works and engraved two views and two plans of the building in his great illustrated volume Theatrum Scottiae (1693) - see engraving below.

In 1790 Robert Adam was instructed to prepare designs for extensions of Thirlestane. It is evident that he never visited the site, as parts of the new building were planned to extend beyond the cliff above the River Leader, east of the castle. His design, not implemented, is shown below. Adam's drawing is in the Soane Museum, London, with the remainder of his works. 

James, the IX^th Earl, undertook the next reconstruction by adding wings to the north and south of the existing pavilions, thus respecting the original design, but also providing modern living accommodation. David Bryce and William Burn were the architects. The north wing, used by the family as living accommodation, is a country house with about six bedrooms and appropriate bathrooms, allied with manageable reception rooms, smaller and easier to heat than the state rooms in the east wing. Sadly, little of the 17^th century decoration of the state romms has survived, apart from the magnificent ceilings plastered by Charles II’s court plasterers (who also decorated the Palace of Holyroodhouse), and the ante-room to the state reception rooms. The tower was built at the same time.

The 1840s work at Thirlestane was dogged by difficulties.  Burn wrote to his patron: 'In all my experience I have never seen or encountered... one [building] which presented so many difficulties or exhibited such an extent of insufficiency, decay and danger.' Sadly, he was not the last architect to comment on Thirlestane’s structural defects.

 

Thirlestane Castle, Lauder, Berwickshire

In l972, the castle passed to the grandson of the 15^th Earl, the 30 year old Capt. Gerald Maitland-Carew. He confronted an intimidating task of restoring a disintegrating building: the central tower was collapsing and there were 40 outbreaks of dry rot. Supported by his wife, Rossie, he assumed the task of repair and opened the house to the public.

Initially, she organized the tea room and shop, in which she often served, and also developed the local voluntary group Friends of Thirlestane without whom the castle could not have functioned. In addition, the Historic Building Council was persuaded to contribute £300,000 to repairs between 1978 and 1982.

Despite this support, the maintenance of the castle was beyond the means of the estate. In 1984, therefore, most of the building and all its contents were placed in the hands of an independent charitable trust, which was endowed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF). The family kept one wing in its ownership (there are no lease or occupancy arrangements, but shared covenants regarding maintenance and insurance).

By this means, a dynamic three way relationship was established: the family remained directly involved in the house, the endowment removed the overwhelming financial burden of the repairs and the independent charitable trust has brought into the management of the property a real breadth of experience. Such was the success of this solution that it has since been applied to other houses.

The key to the success of this model is the continuing close family involvement in the castle, which began with Capt Maitland-Carew's verve, commitment and enthusiasm, and has been continued by Edward and Sarah Maitland-Carew.

The NHMF endowment was intended to last for a generation and, more than 30 years on, new sources of capital and revenue funding are required to sustain Thirlestane. This is the challenge that has now been passed to Mr and Mrs Edward Maitland-Carew. Besides hosting weddings and events, they have opened two apartments for hire within the castle and plan to open several more. They new apartments have been a great success. They have also organized a fine dining experience' in the state rooms, provided by the Firebrick Brasserie in Lauder. Their enthusiasm for this astonishing building promises to secure it for the 2lst century.       Acknowledgments: Country Life

Edward Maitland-Carew lives there with his family. It has magnificent ceilings, good furniture and an excellent collection of late 19th century and Edwardian portraits in addition to a good collection of 17th and 18th century portraits.   There are also several holiday apartment available to let - see

 www.thirlestanecastle.co.uk

Lauderdale Apartments at Thirlestane 

Clansfolk now have an opportunity to stay at Thirlestane in The Lauderdale Apartments.   There is a one bedroom and a second two bedroom apartment available. The photos here are of the one bedroom apartment.

With its own private access and exceptional views of the parkland to the front of Thirlestane Castle, The Lauderdale Apartment, located within the south wing of the castle, is now available for self catering holiday lets, offering a unique opportunity for visitors to stay in a genuinely historic Scottish castle.

The Lauderdale apartment has private access through the old stable courtyard and consists of open plan kitchen, dining area and seating area. It is a five minute walk into Lauder. The apartment offers spectacular views of the Borders, rich Scottish raspberry jam for breakfast and an experience you will talk about not just for one night but all year.

There are several acres of parking available at the Castle, and many interesting places to visit within an hour’s drive.

Costs  vary with season. The one bedroom apartment is available for from three days upwards. A week varies from £410 to £525 depending on the week chosen, and three days costs from £267 - £335. Bearing in mind that a good hotel in Lauder costs about £120 a night double room Bed & Breakfast, this is very good value.

BOOK – via thirlestanecastle.co.uk/stay

 

A few days at Thirlestane – suggestions for visitors

            Thirlestane Castle is the prime Maitland building in Scotland, but not the only one, and there are several other places to visit nearby.

            Thirlestane Castle

            First, of course, tour the house and grounds. We won’t repeat the guidebook here. Thirlestane is built on Castle Hill, above the River Leader, which was fortified by the forces of King Edward I of England during his invasion of Scotland in the period 1296 -1305. It is thought to have been little more than earthworks and low ramparts.  

            The castle we see today is that built by John Maitland, First Lord Thirlestane and Chancellor of Scotland from 1590, extended in the 1670s by the Duke of Lauderdale and again in the 1840s by the Xth Earl.

            Old Thirlestane

         Before 1590, the Maitlands had lived at Old Thirlestane from around 1250 when Richard Mautalent from Northumberland married Avicia, daughter of Thomas de Thirlestane, and lived in the now ruined peel tower.  This lies about 2 miles south east of Thirlestane just off the A697 road to Duns and Greenlaw opposite Thirlestane Cottages. You can walk across the field to visit the ruin and are permitted to do so by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 which gives everyone rights of access over land. 

              Crichton Castle in Pathhead, on the way to Edinburgh, has a well preserved peel tower incorporated in the building, so you can get an idea of what old Thirlestane was like when occupied. 

              Lennoxlove House, Haddington    

              Maitlands moved to Lethington, now Lennoxlove House, near Haddington between 1300 and 1345 when Robert Maitland received a charter of confirmation of his holding of Lethington. This remained the principal residence of the family until the death of the Duke of Lauderdale in 1683. He bequeathed Lethington to his wife so that she could sell it to pay off the mortgages he had arranged on her own home, Ham House near London.        http://www.lennoxlove.com

             Lauderdale Aisle, St Mary’s Kirk, Haddington

           The Aisle is the former sacristy of the great 15th century parish church, with a splendid monument of the early-17th century, in marble, with fine alabaster effigies of John, 1st Lord Thirlestane and of John, 1st Earl of Lauderdale.  It is the burial place of the Earls and of the Duke of Lauderdale.

     http://www.stmaryskirk.co.uk

            Traquair House, Innerliethen

            Maitlands owned Traquair from 1360 to around 1409. It is interesting and a good visit in its own right. An additional interest is that it closely resembles the Thirlestane Castle built in 1590 before the Duke extended it.      https://www.traquair.co.uk/

            Other local attractions – not Maitland linked 

            Rosslyn Chapel

            The  Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, it is a 15th-century chapel located in the village of Roslin, Midlothian.It has extraordinary 15th century carvings and decoration.     https://www.rosslynchapel.com

           Glenkinchie Distillery

           Our very own local malt whisky distillery, located at Pencaitland, Tranent, East Lothian,  EH34 5ET.   

           https://www.malts.com/en-gb/distilleries/glenkinchie/

 

Lauder Catering

Carfraemill Hotel (three miles north of Lauder)

       The restaurant was one of three finalists in the 2017 "Best Informal Eating Experience" at Scotland's Thistle Awards for Lothian and Borders.Traditional Scots cooking, expecially beef and lamb.

https://www.carfraemill.co.uk

Firebrick Brasserie, Lauder

         They reached the 2017/2018 National Final of the Visit Scotland, Scottish Thistle Awards asthe Lothian & Borders Regional Winner in the ‘Best Restaurant Experience‘ category.  http://firebrickbrasserie.co.uk

Flat Cat Gallery and Café, Lauder

         Has the best meringues in captivity, and other delicious patisseries