Duns Castle Berwickshire

Duns Castle is a large 15th century tower house built for the Dunbar or Home family and much extended by the Hays. It is a private home and not generally open to the public , although it is available as an exclusive use venue.

It is traditionally asserted that Duns was granted to Thomas Randolph by Robert Bruce, and that he founded the castle in 1320 – but this is probably not correct. Instead the lands of Duns were held by the earls of Dunbar in the reigns of Alexander II and III. The Park of Duns is a location twice used by Robert Bruce to stay when his armies attacked Berwick, and although the Dunbar earls were flexible in their allegiance, it seems likely that they retained Duns as part of their extensive estates until they were forfeited by King James II in the 1430s – in despite of it being granted to an English knight in 1330 by Edward III. By 1489 the lands were held by George Home of Ayton, and as the Homes were offshoots of the Dunbars, this may have passed by inheritance at an earlier date. Duns was attacked by the English repeatedly during the 16th century, and apparently overthrown on at least one occasion.

The L-plan tower of the Homes was extended with a single wing extending to the west soon after the Hays acquired the estate in 1696, and a further extension was added in the 18th century before James Gillespie Graham was asked to redesign the building in a new flamboyant style which was completed between 1816 and 1822. The house is still owned by the Hay family, who live there.

Official Duns Castle website

HES Canmore database entry