Newark Castle, Selkirkshire
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Newark_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1127867.jpg/220px-Newark_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1127867.jpg)
Newark Tower is a large, ruined tower house standing in the grounds of Bowhill House, in the valley of the Yarrow Water three miles west of Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. In addition to the keep, sections of a gatehouse and wall survive. It has been designated a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland.[1]
History
Newark Tower 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 cap-houses date from about 1600.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Newark_castle_nr_Selkirk.jpg/220px-Newark_castle_nr_Selkirk.jpg)
After the fall of the Black Douglases the Tower was held by the crown, and in 1473 it was given to Margaret of Denmark, wife of 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. Sir Walter Scott of Branxholme was made Keeper and Captain of Newark, and Baillie and Chamberlain of Ettrick Forest in December 1573.[4]
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 Tower is believed to be haunted by the souls of the 300 slaughtered women and children also murdered at the site after the battle, whose cries are heard each year on September 13.[5]
The Tower was altered for
Walter Scott framed the story of The Lay of the Last Minstrel there.
See also
- Treasure Houses of Britain – 1985 TV series that shows the castle as backdrop to introduction of Buccleuch family in Programme 2
References
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Newark Castle,Philiphaugh (SM1729)". Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ^ Foedera, vol. 8, p. 73: Joseph Bain, Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, 1357–1509, Addenda 1221–1435, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1888), p. 344 no. 1714
- ^ State Papers King Henry the Eighth, vol. IV part IV (London, 1836), p. 608.
- ^ Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1567-1574, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1963), p. 421 no. 2234.
- ^ "Haunted Newark Castle, Selkirk – a September haunting". Haunted Isles. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
Bibliography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Coventry, Martin (2005). towers of Scotland. Goblinshead. p. 88. ISBN 1-899874-24-0.
- Salter, Mike (1985). Discovering Scottish towers. Shire Publications Ltd. pp. 12–13. ISBN 0-85263-749-7.