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The Monteath Mausoleum is a large landmark in the Scottish Borders near the village of Ancrum. General Sir Thomas Monteath Douglas commissioned this large mausoleum which was built on the hill named Gersit Law to the north of Jedburgh near Ancrum. The land belonged to his son-in-law Sir William Monteath Scott and overlooks the site of the Battle of Ancrum Moor.
The mausoleum was designed by the Edinburgh architects Peddie & Kinnear. The building is dated 1864 which is four years before Douglas died. They included a domed roof design similar to Dundas House in Edinburgh that was used by the Bank of Scotland. That later design also incorporated glass star-shaped roof lights.
The mausoleum was to be sealed forever hiding the two angels who guard his tomb. The inside is lit by 48 green glass star-shaped lights in the domed roof. Outside two carved lions guard the entrance. one of the is sleeping and the other is awake. The building is constructed from ashlar sandstone.
Monteath Mausoleum is open to the public and a key to the crypt can be obtained.
References:
Dryburgh Abbey on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders was founded in 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. The arrival of the canons along with their first abbot, Roger, took place in 1152.
It was burned by English troops in 1322, after which it was restored only to be again burned by Richard II in 1385, but it flourished in the fifteenth century. It was finally destroyed in 1544, briefly surviving until the Scottish Reformation, when it was given to the Earl of Mar by James VI of Scotland. It is now a designated scheduled monument and the surrounding landscape is included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan bought the land in 1786. Sir Walter Scott and Douglas Haig are buried in its grounds.