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Neidpath Castle is an L-plan rubble-built tower house, overlooking the River Tweed near Peebles in the Borders of Scotland. An early castle was probably built here by Simon Fraser of Oliver Castle between 1263 and 1266. Sir William de Haya probably built the present castle in the late 14th century. It was held by them until the 17th century.
During Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Scotland in 1650, Neidpath was attacked. During the 1660s, the 2nd Earl of Tweeddale remodelled the castle, and constructed outbuildings. Later Neidpath castle suffered neglect and by 1790 the upper storeys of the wing had collapsed.
The castle is today both a wedding venue and filming location and can be viewed by appointment.
Neidpath Castle is a tall L-plan tower house, one leg of the L being very short. It has rounded corners. The battlements are roofed and the sentry walk is a balustraded balcony. There are few windows, and two still have their iron bar protection. Inside, the basement and the first-floor hall are vaulted, and the hall is further divided by a wooden floor into two storeys. Other features include a pit dungeon, and some small exhibitions of artifacts found in the locale. There are remains of a partly walled garden. The archway is decorated with both the goats head emblem of the Hays and the strawberries of the Frasers.
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.