Hume Castle

Hume Castle
Middle English: Home Castle
Hume, Berwickshire, Scotland
Hume Castle is located in Scottish Borders
Hume Castle
Hume Castle
Coordinates55°39′55″N 2°28′15″W / 55.66528°N 2.47083°W / 55.66528; -2.47083
TypeCastle of enceinte, recreated as a folly
Site information
OwnerClan Home Association / Historic Scotland
Open to
the public
Yes
ConditionRuined, rebuilt as folly
Site history
Built12th/13th century
Built byWilliam de Home
MaterialsStone
Demolished1650

Hume Castle is the heavily modified remnants of a late 12th- or early 13th-century castle of enceinte held by the powerful Hume or Home family, Wardens of the Eastern March who became successively the Lords Home and the Earls of Home. The village of Hume is located between Greenlaw and Kelso, two miles north of the village of Stichill, in Berwickshire, Scotland. (OS ref.- NT704413). It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, recorded as such by Historic Environment Scotland.[1]

Standing as it does, on an impressive height above its eponymous castleton, it commands fine prospects across the Merse, with views to the English border at Carter Bar. It had historically been used as a beacon to warn of invasion. Its enormous walls were created in the 18th century but remnants of the central keep and other features can still be seen.

  1. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Hume Castle, castle and associated settlement (SM387)". Retrieved 21 February 2019.