Castle Map

Castle

Fatlips Castle

Scotland · 16th century

Founded
c. 1600
Heritage status
scheduled monument
Location
Scottish Borders
Coordinates
55.48°, -2.66294°
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Fatlips Castle in Scotland
Photo: Steelecf - Please Credit Danielle Steele for Photo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Fatlips Castle is a peel tower in Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. Situated at the top of Minto Crags, above the River Teviot, it was built in the 16th century by the Turnbulls of Barnhills, notorious Border reivers, and owners of nearby Barnhills Tower and farm. In 1545, during the War of the Rough Wooing, the Earl of Hertford burned "Mantoncrake", or Mynto Crag.

The castle is said to have obtained its unusual name from the habit of the members of the house to greet guests with less discretion than was considered decent at the time. One of the pleasures of a visit to Fatlips used to be that "every gentleman, by indefeasible privilege, kisses one of the ladies on entering the ruin."

The castle was acquired by Sir Gilbert Elliot in 1705, whose family eventually became the Earls of Minto. It was extensively restored in 1857, while the interior was renovated by Sir Robert Lorimer in 1897–8 as a shooting lodge and private museum. The building was in use until the 1960s. On 18 November 2011, it was announced that a major restoration of the building would take place, with work expected to be complete by 2013. In mid-2013, the cap-house, parapet and roof were successfully renovated.

The rectangular tower is 26 feet 9 inches (8.15 m) from north to south, and 32 feet 3 inches (9.83 m) from east to west. It comprises four storeys plus an attic, which is surrounded by a 19th-century parapet walk.

It is designated by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.

Text adapted from “Fatlips Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Fatlips Castle ranks #6,588 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #201 of the 225 mapped in Scotland. Founded c. 1600, it is older than 31% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 887 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Edinburgh, 62 km away. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.

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