Borders Greenlaw Hume Castle,Scotland, UK. 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 Castle is a real oddity. It stands three miles south of Greenlaw on the top of an outcrop that gives it incredible views in all directions. It is difficult to imagine a more dominant position from which to try to control a broad swathe of the Borders.
Hume Castle is a real oddity, its almost comical simplicity looming over Hume village. The shape just doesn’t look right for a proper castle – almost like a child drew it – the battlements are far too large for any defensive purpose, and the corners are… just plain weird. So what’s going on? Well, it turns out that most of the exterior is a folly built by a rich owner in the 1700s on top of the original 13th century curtain wall. The folly encloses little more than a grassy, empty shell, although there are a few medieval fragments of stonework scattered around inside. Back when it had a serious purpose, the castle switched hands between the English and the Scots several times. Later on it was responsible for the Great Alarm, during its use as one of a chain of warning beacons in the Napoleonic Wars. A lookout mistook nearby charcoal burner fires for another warning beacon, lit the castle’s own, and in doing so triggered the chain lighting of every beacon to the west. 3,000 volunteers appeared in defence against a non-existent invading French army. Probably an even greater waste of time and effort than the building of the folly itself…
Size: 3504px × 2336px
Location: Kelso TD5 7TR, Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Alister Firth / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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