Greenlaw Castle

First recorded in a charter dated 1606, Greenlaw Castle was demolished in the first half of the nineteenth century. It was situated just over one kilometre east of Greenlaw village.

It served as a laird's house until 1729, after which it became a residence for farm servants. It was probably a fortified structure, of which little is known, though it is recorded that a stone building near the castle was where cattle were hidden during raids.

Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project

NT74NW 5 7210 4593.

(NT 7210 4593) Greenlaw Castle (NR) (Site of).

OS 6"map, (1957).

Three old ash trees mark the site of Greenlaw Castle which stood in the second field on the N side of the Castle Loan Road going SE. It is first mentioned in a charter dated 1606.

There is no extant description of the castle, but there was a large stone building, near the castle, in which the cattle were placed when a raid was feared. The castle ceased to be occupied as a manor-house after 1729, then it was used by farm servants till about 1820, being demolished shortly after.

R Gibson 1905; J Walker 1868.

No trace of Greenlaw Castle now survives.

Visited by OS(RD) 22 July 1970.

EXTERNAL REFERENCE:

History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club

Parish of Greenlaw. "A small part of the wall of an old building was standing about 15 years ago, in a field called Castle Field...This has been removed and ploughed over..." 1863-8, p.114