Abandoned Castle

Redhouse Castle - East Lothian  - 16th century towerhouse

more information  ...  HERE


It is now owned by a local landowner and a garden centre occupies the former walled garden.

These photos were taken a few weeks ago, hence the lack of Spring foliage

Entrance archway to the courtyard

Arms of John Laing and his wife Rebecca Denistoun who lived here in the early 1600 hundreds
The inscription above the door reads -
Without God all is in vain.

How the castle may have looked in its heyday

Painting by Andrew Spratt

Beyond the archway  -  horses in an adjacent field.

Thank you for visiting

Shared with :  Image-in-ing     Our World Tuesday

Trees at Dawyck

Dawyck  Botanic Garden, Peebles, Scottish Borders :  May.

During the past 300 years, the  families of Veitch, Naesmyth and Balfour,have left their mark on this landscape.
In the 18th and19th centuries,funding of plant hunting expeditions to North America and Asia brought many new and  interesting specimens to Dawyck.
In 1979 the arboretum was gifted to the Royal Botanic Edinburgh by the Balfour family.

Planting has been ongoing in this arboretum since the 17th century. The first horse chestnuts in Scotland
were introduced by the Veitch family in 1650. The oldest tree in the garden is a European silver fir planted in 1680.
 The first larch is said to have been planted when the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus visited in 1725.
Since then the hillside has been covered with mixed woodland: limes ,beeches, and conifers from around the world.

View of Dawyck House from the Beech Walk

New planting is essential to preserve the tradition of discovery and to expand the collection
 for education and conservation. Young seedlings are planted each year to maintain the canopy for the future and
increase the plant collection .

A closer view of the house with the River Tweed  running behind.
Dawyck House is still in private ownership and is not open to the public.

The present building ,designed in the Dutch style by architect William Burn ,was constructed around 1835 after a fire destroyed the previous building. The older Dawyck Castle may have stood here as early as the 12th century when the Veitch family owned the land.As feuding among landed families was common at that time,the building was likely to have been a fortified tower built for protection. The name Dawyck means ox gates.

The house with commercial conifer plantation in the distance.

Around the time that the present house was built,Sir John Naesmyth employed Italian craftsmen to construct
 stone urns,steps and balastrades around the gardens.

Ornamental urn.

Blue Himalayan poppies thrive in the cool acid conditions of the garden.


Since ownership of  the Dawyck  arboretum was transferred to  the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh,it's plant collection has taken on new significance. Dawyck is now part of an international network committed to plant conservation.Exploration and plant collecting continues today but conservation is now the driving force with botanists from around the world  working together to document and conserve the world's plant life.