Cavers
Cavers is a parish in south Roxburghshire, south-west of Hawick. The name means "enclosure".
Robert The Bruce rewarded 'The Good' Sir James Douglas with lands spread across Scotland. These included Cavers, granted in 1320.[1] Sir James had been Bruce's trusted lieutenant at Bannockburn in 1314, and was key to his power base in southern Scotland.
The lands passed to James, 2nd Earl of Douglas, who, like so many other Douglases, was not to die in his bed, but on the field of battle, at Otterburn in 1388. James's sons and (a) daughter(s) were all illegitimate. To ensure their succession, he granted the lands of Drumlanrig to his bastard son William and Cavers to Archibald.
Cavers remained in Douglas hands until 1975 when James Palmer-Douglas moved away from Cavers and the remaining lands of the once vast estates in Roxburghshire were put on the market.[2]
Currently, the Church of Scotland Parish comprises Cavers and Kirkton linked with Hawick.
Cavers House was built between 1750 and 1884, with its "Warden's tower", and it belonged to the Baliol and Douglas families. It was demolished in 1953.
References
- ↑ Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Reports Part 2, page 726, published in 1879,
- ↑ "Black Douglas clan leader joins battle to preserve ancient church". The Scotsman. 25 February 2003. http://www.scotsman.com/news/black-douglas-clan-leader-joins-battle-to-preserve-ancient-church-1-547394. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
Outside links
- CANMORE/RCAHMS: Teviothead churchyard
- RCAHMS record for Cavers House
- RCAHMS record for Cavers Mains, Temporary Camp (Roman)
- RCAHMS record for Cavers House, St Cuthbert's Church, Churchyard
- NAS record, Plan of Water Supply To Cavers Manse
- NAS record for Plans of Cavers Burial Ground
- GENUKI: Cavers Parish