Newark Castle, Selkirkshire
| Newark Castle | |
|
Selkirkshire | |
|---|---|
 Newark Castle | |
| Type: | Tower house |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NT420293 |
| Location: | 55°33’17"N, 2°55’11"W |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | ruined |
Newark Castle is a large, ruined tower house standing in the grounds of Bowhill House in Selkirkshire, in the valley of the Yarrow Water three miles west of the county town, Selkirk. In addition to the keep, sections of a gatehouse and wall survive.
Newark Castle was granted to Archibald Douglas, Earl of Wigtown around 1423. It was incomplete at this time and work continued until about 1475. The surrounding barmkin was added around 1550, and the present battlements and two square caphouses date from about 1600.
After the fall of the Black Douglases the castle was held by the crown, and in 1473 it was given to Margaret of Denmark, wife of King James III. The royal arms are visible on the west gable.
Newark was unsuccessfully besieged by an English army in 1547, but was burnt the following year. In 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, 100 royalist followers of the Marquis of Montrose were shot in the barmkin of Newark after the Battle of Philiphaugh.
The castle was altered for Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch at the end of the 17th century. It was visited by Sir Walter Scott and William and Dorothy Wordsworth in 1831.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Newark Castle, Selkirkshire) |
References
- Coventry, Martin: Castles of Scotland (Goblinshead, 2005) ISBN 1-899874-24-0 (p 88)
- Salter, Mike: Discovering Scottish Castles (Shire Publications Ltd, 1985) ISBN 0-85263-749-7 (pp 12–13)