Floors Castle

Scotland > South of Scotland > Roxburghshire > Floors Castle

The magnificent Floors Castle, home to the Dukes of Roxburghe, sits on a natural terrace overlooking the beautiful River Tweed and facing the Cheviot Hills. It lies on the opposite river bank to Roxburgh Castle, once the strongest fortress along the former march land with England.
In 1721, William Adam was commissioned by the 1st Duke of Roxburghe to make additions to the eastern end of an existing tower-house to create a plain, but symmetrical, Georgian country house.
Later the leading architect in Edinburgh, William Playfair was engaged to remodel the building between 1837 and 1847. He drew his inspiration for Floors from the highly ornamented picturesque style of Heriot's Hospital in Edinburgh. The result is a romantic fairytale castle with its roofscape of turrets, pinnacles and cupolas which bewitch and beguile modern visitors from all over the world today.
The grounds have been expertly tended and offer just about everything you would expect from a castle of such stature. One highlight is the Walled Garden is tucked away to the west of the castle. Here, Queen Victoria took tea during her visit in 1867. Many of the same great gardening traditions remain and flowers are still cut for the main house from the packed herbaceous borders. Ornamental borders also co-exist alongside soft fruit and vegetable beds, surrounding the peach glass house.
The most remarkable feature of the garden are the original Victorian iron poles, dripping with huge swags of crimson American pillar rambling roses and purple clematis. Beneath the tunnel of colour and scent blow great swathes of grasses, lupins, geraniums, campanulas and euphorbias, creating a real colour palette.
The house is still home to the 10th Duke of Roxburghe and the house and gardens are open to the public.