One of Scotland's most imposing and well-preserved medieval tower houses, Borthwick sheltered Mary, Queen of Scots during her flight of 1567 and still bears the scars of Cromwell's 1650 assault.
Borthwick Castle stands in the Midlothian countryside, a towering stone keep raised in 1430 by Sir William Borthwick, 1st Lord Borthwick. He built under a royal licence granted by James I that June — an unusual formality, since Scottish nobles rarely sought royal permission to fortify. The result was one of the most imposing tower houses in Scotland: a U-shaped keep of fine sandstone ashlar, its twin projecting towers separated by a narrow gap, walls reaching some fourteen feet thick and rising around ninety feet. Within lies a great hall spanned by a barrel-vaulted Gothic ceiling.
The castle’s most storied moment came in 1567, when Mary, Queen of Scots sheltered here with her third husband, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, whom she had married only weeks earlier. Besieged by hostile nobles, she reportedly escaped disguised as a page. Three years later, in 1650, Oliver Cromwell’s forces battered the walls, leaving damage still visible today.
Abandoned for a time, the castle was restored by 1914 and later used during the Second World War to store national treasures. Since the 1970s it has served as an exclusive events venue, refurbished again between 2013 and 2015. Local ghost stories still cling to its ancient stone.
What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.
What to look for
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The U-shaped keep of fine sandstone ashlar, its twin projecting towers divided by a narrow gap
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Walls reaching some fourteen feet thick — among the most massive of any Scottish tower house
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The great hall beneath its barrel-vaulted Gothic ceiling
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Wall damage left by Oliver Cromwell's bombardment in 1650
Plan your visit
- Location
- General area near Midlothian, Midlothian
This is a sensitive or fragile site, so we show only its general area. Please check official heritage sources for access before visiting, and take care not to disturb it.
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