Hermitage
Hermitage is one of the strangest castles in the British Isles.
Built above the Hermitage Water the fortress consists of 2 deeply
ditched wards with a rectangular tower house built eccentrically in the
ravelin shaped inner ward. It's impression is as dour and false
as its morbid and misunderstood history. According to
‘modern authority', Hermitage is an 'awsome ruin' with 'its
long and turbulent history', the fortress being 'begun by Sir Hugh
Dacre around 1360 and transformed beyond recognition by William
1st Earl of Douglas'. It seems as ever, the story told from the
few recorded facts gives a very different picture from the rather dire,
taxpayer funded, government sponsored view which seems to merely expand
without solid evidence the views of 2 good Victorian architects who
made no claims to be historians. Considering the poor scholarship
of the 'offical souvenir guide' a brief appraisal of problems with
their booklet is given here.
The early history of Liddesdale, in which Hermitage castle stands, is given in the history of English Liddel and Scottish Liddel.
Some of this must be repeated here to make sense of Hermitage
castle. The fortress is first mentioned in contemporary documents
on 20 September 1300. Then it was ordered that the lands of the
lord of English Liddel, which then included Scottish Liddel, should be
taken into royal custody. This was nearly 6 months after the
death of John Wake, the baron of Liddel. That autumn it was
recorded that much of Liddesdale had been destroyed by rebel Scots and
that Simon Lindsey was to take custody ‘of Lidel and le Ermitage'. On 10 November 1300, this order was expanded, ordering Simon to keep:
Hermitage castle, the mote of Lydel
and the lands in the valley of Liddel both in England and Scotland
belonging to the late John Wake saving the dower of his widow,
Joanna... Simon laying out in repair of the walls, houses and
other things in the said castle £20.
There then followed a clause to the sentence that may have applied to Hermitage castle, but more likely to the English Liddel castle. This ran:
also repairing the mote and the ditches around, strengthening and redressing the same and the peel and the palisades and making lodges within the mote if necessary for the safety of the men at arms of the garrison...
There is always a problem with translating the medieval word mote when dealing with castle sites - does it mean moat or motte? The mention of the mote
and ditches in this case quite obviously means motte and ditches as it
would be meaningless to say repair the moat and ditches when they were
to all intents and purposes the same thing. Further, it would
hardly be logical to make lodges within a moat, but within or on a
motte makes perfect sense. It can therefore be seen that this
second clause most likely refers to the English Liddel
castle, which appears to have once had a motte. From this it can
be seen that Hermitage seems to have been a functional masonry castle
by the Autumn of 1300 as opposed to the functional wooden castle of the
English Liddel. The
fact Hermitage castle existed in 1300 must ask the question as to how
much further back the history of the castle can be taken?
It seems from the history of the Soulis family related to in the Scottish Liddel castle, that this fortress, or at least its site in northern or Scottish Liddesdale, was seized by King Edward I (1272-1307) in or around April 1296 when the Scottish kingdom of John Balliol
(d.1314) was quashed. It was then granted to the young John Wake
who died before 10 April 1300 at the age of just 31. In 1296 King Edward I (1272-1307) passed nearby when he stayed at Wheel, just 3 miles north-east of Saughtree on 24 May 1296 after leaving Roxburgh and Jedburgh. He then went to Liddesdale (Valle Lydell)
where he stayed until the 27th, a French chronicle noting his stay at
Castelton on the Sunday, then he returned to Jedburgh via Wheel.
Possibly he visited Hermitage castle during his 3 day stay within the
vale although this is not mentioned. As Hermitage castle almost
certainly already existed it seems odd that Edward stayed at Castleton
where the alleged Scottish Liddel castle
stood. Even if it still existed, the Scottish Liddel castle must
have been obsolete by this time. Edward visited the district
again in the autumn of 1298. After being based at Carlisle
from 8 September he moved to Stanwix on the 24th and then Kirkandrews
on Esk on the 26th and 27th before moving into Liddesdale on the
28th. By 30 September he was at ‘Roule' which was probably
Wheel, before arriving at Jedburgh by 2 October. Again his lack
of a visit to Hermitage might be taken as evidence that the castle did
not exist before 1298 and that John Wake was responsible for its
construction in the 2 subsequent years. However, 2 pieces of
medieval evidence hold against this. The main evidence comes from
the Annales attached to the end of John Fordun's chronicle. This states that:
King Henry of England, having assembled a very great army, came to Newcastle upon Tyne, to wage war against King Alexander of Scotland,
because a certain castle had been erected by the Scots in the marches
between Scotland and England, namely, in the valley of Liddel, which is
called the Hermitage. And King Alexander, having foreseen this,
was not slow to meet him, with his army well-equipped, as far as Caldenle,
where all the nobles had made a renewed fidelity to the lord king; and
thus they proceeded with one accord as far as Ponteland, to meet
together against the king of England, if he should enter the parts of
Lothian.
The Gesta Annalia (Yearly
Deeds) that this comes from was probably written up around April 1285
and apparently plagiarised another source. As it was thus written
within living memory of 1244 its information about Hermitage should be
seen as authentic and not late fourteenth century fantasy.
In February 1307, Johanna (d.1314), the widow of John Wake, claimed Hermitage and lands in Liddesdale back from the sheriff of Roxburgh,
but was informed that William Soulis, who had a claim to the land,
would also be informed and allowed to attend the inquest on the
ownership of the land. On 12 September 1307, Sheriff Robert
Mauley of Roxburgh replied to King Edward II's
enquiry that he was unable to place Johanna in seisin as the land was
held by William Soulis (d.1321) who was abroad and that all the tenants
of the lordship had fled into England.
Sometime in the last few years of the reign of King Edward I (1272-1307), the Master and Brethren of the Hospital of St Leonard at Berwick
complained that they had been ejected from a carucate of land with
appurtenances in Liddesdale by ‘thieves from Scotland who came by
night and killed their brethren and their people who were there and
burned their houses and destroyed all' during the time of Master
William Feugers. The land had then been occupied by the Soulis
lords of the district until John St John (d.1302) during his wardenship
of the district (which lasted from 3 January 1299 until his death at Lochmaben castle
on 6 September 1302), ordered by the command of the king to verbally
put them back into their land, out of which the lady of Wake
(presumably Johanna, lady of Liddel from 1300 to 1306) and John
Botetourt (d.1324) and William Soulis (d.1321) had afterwards ejected
them and still keep them dispossessed.
Master William Feugers had died before 10 July 1281 when he held half a
knight's fee at Castellevigton in Yorkshire. He left a 50 year
old son, which suggests that he was over 70 at the time of his
death. This might well suggest that the land they lost in
Liddesdale was Hermitage and its surrounding lands. This would
make sense of the 1244 report of Hermitage castle being erected and the
Soulis lords taking over. Berwick hospital apparently lay at
Horndean on the opposite side of the River Tweed to Norham castle.
The above suggests that Hermitage castle fell to King Edward I early in his campaign against King John Balliol (1292-96). On 2 April 1296, the king appointed Robert Clifford (d.1314) of Appleby, Brough, Brougham and Pendragon
castles, to form a force of 140 men at arms and 500 foot at the king's
wages and do his utmost to take hostages from those areas that had
already come to King Edward's peace. These were Selkirk forest,
Cavers Moor, Liddesdale, Eskdale, Ewisdale, Annandale, Moffatdale,
Nithsdale and Galloway. Presumably Scottish Liddesdale
and Hermitage castle were then passed on to John Wake, who died early
in 1300 leaving his widow, Johanna (d.1314), briefly in possession,
before turning the land and fortress over to Simon Lindsay. Thus
on 30 October 1300, Edward I addressed a writ to his men to observe the truce granted to the Scots. These men were Sheriff John Bourdon of Berwick,
John St John [guardian of the West March], Lord Simon Lindsay of
Wauchopdale (around Langholm), ‘guardian of the fortresses of
Liddel and del Ermitage Soules',
Constable Richard Hastings of Jedburgh, William Latimer the custodian
of Berwick town, Earl Patrick Dunbar of March, Lord Robert Mauley of Dirleton,
Sheriff John Kingston of Edinburgh and Simon Fraser, the custodian of
Selkirk forest. Hermitage castle seems to have changed sides by
14 June 1303, when King Edward, campaigning at Clackmannan, ordered Bishop Anthony Bek to protect Cumberland
as he had been informed that a multitude of armed Scots, enemies and
rebels, from Annandale and Liddesdale, were devastating the
county. Certainly this fits in with Johanna Wake's 1307 claim.
At the winter parliament held at Carlisle from October 1306 to February
1307, Johanna Wake (d.1314), on 19 January 1307, presented a petition
asking for the king to intervene concerning the grant to her husband
(John Wake, d.1300) of the Hermitage in the valley of Liddel (hermitagium in valle de Lydell).
She claimed that John had died seised of the land and that after his
death she had held the third part of that heritage by the king's writ,
and was seised of it for 3 years [1300-03]. Then she was removed
from the land by Lord John Boutetourt (d.1324), who the same Joan
pursued to the lord king, who reinstated her seisin until Michaelmas
nearest [29 Sept 1304?], and before a year had passed by, she was
removed by the sheriff of Roxburgh, so she
entreats the lord king so that she might have reseisin of it again with
it's issues. The king replied affirmatively to this petition and
gave Johanna a day to prosecute her request at mid Lent 1307. It
was also ordered for a writ to be sent to Chancellor John Segrave to
supply all the writs concerning the land previously held by Nicholas
Soulis (d.1296) in Liddesdale, which had been directed to him while he
was guardian or justiciar of Lothian. Johanna was also forewarned
that William Soulis (d.1321), the heir of Nicholas, would be informed
of the proceedings and could appear in court in February if he thought
it expedient for him to do so.
Johanna presented her petition on the allotted day. This stated
that the king had given Baron John Wake (d.1300), Hermitage with its
appurtenances in Liddesdale. She repeated her claims as to what
had happened to the barony since she was awarded her third as
dower. Then William Soulis (d.1321) entered a petition as son and
heir of Nicholas Soulis (d.1296) stating that the king and parliament
in London had earlier stated that no underage child in the kingdom of
Scotland should be disinherited. Therefore the lands in
Liddesdale, the heritage of William, which were currently held by Lady
Joan at the king's will, should be given to him so that he is not
disinherited. The court then asked why John Segrave had taken the
lands into his hands and asked for the records to be searched on this
matter and postponed the case for this to be done. On 26 February
1307, the court met again and decided that as William Soulis was still
under 21 he could not be given seisin of the land and so Johanna should
have seisin at the king's will until it should be decided
otherwise. On 12 September 1307, Sheriff Robert Mauley of Roxburgh replied to King Edward II's
enquiry that he was unable to place Johanna Wake (d.1314) in seisin of
Liddesdale as the land was held by William Soulis (d.1321) who was
abroad and that all the tenants of the lordship had fled into
England. It is uncertain from this if William had come of age in
the intervening time, or whether the land had simply rebelled to
him. William initially seems to have remained within the peace of
King Edward II as he appeared with
that king's great supporter, Bishop Anthony Bek (d.1311), on 27 August
1310. After this, possibly around the time of the battle of
Bannockburn in 1314, William went over to the cause of King Robert Bruce
(1306-29), no doubt taking Hermitage castle with him. William
Soulis (d.1321) would seem to have been in control of Liddesdale for Robert the Bruce
on 14 February 1316, when he was one of the leaders who intercepted and
routed an Edwardian raiding party from Berwick that had attacked the
region of Melrose. Quite possibly the Soulis family had been
keeping one foot in either camp at this point - a standard noble
position. It would seem that the English Liddel castle, as well as Hermitage castle, were within the district, between Lochmaben and Carlisle, described in 1317 by William Dacre (d.1317+) as so utterly wasted and burned that there was neither man nor beast left in it.
By October 1319, Thomas Wake (d.1349), the son of John Wake (d.1300)
and Johanna (d.1314) had come of age and sent 65 men, presumably from English Liddel, to help besiege Berwick. About November 1319 it became obvious from a letter to the king that men loyal to Edward II
(1307-27) held Liddel, but that his enemies lay ‘about Hermitage'
which Edward II's men had intended to ravage, but for the enemy being
forewarned of their coming. Further, the treacherous actions of
Constable John Harclay of Carlisle
had led the best and richest men of Gilsland and Liddel to go over to
the Scots enemy, with more than 97 defecting from the barony of Liddel
alone. Finally, John le Mareschal and John Prendregest had
surrendered the peel of Liddel
to the enemy and joined the Scots. This meant all Liddesdale was
probably now brought under the control of William Soulis (d.1321) by
the end of 1319.
On 7 January 1320, William was obviously trusted enough to be the first recorded amongst the knights sent south by King Robert Bruce to negotiate with Edward II.
The same year he witnessed the 6 April 1320 Declaration of
Arbroath. Immediately afterwards he was alleged to have been
involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Robert Bruce. This resulted in him being captured at Berwick
with 160 squires in his retinue, they being dressed in his
livery. On 4 August he was tried for treason at Scone, found
guilty on his confession, and stripped of all his lands including
Liddesdale. He was then imprisoned at Dumbarton castle
where he died by 20 April 1321. His cousin through his Comyn
mother, David Brechin, and several others were executed for their part
in the alleged plot.
With the forfeiture of the Soulis lands King Robert I (1306-29) then gave Liddesdale to his illegitimate son, Robert (d.1332). He witnessed charters from 21 September 1323 as Robertus de Brus, Dominus de Lidalisdale.
It therefore seems quite likely that Bruce held all the barony, his
rule being based upon Hermitage castle. Bruce fell with so many
others of the Scottish aristocracy at Dupplin Moor on 12 August
1332. Despite his imposition on the barony, the story of the
Soulis family did not quite end here, for William's daughter,
Ermygarda, managed to acquire half the old tenements of her
father. Presumably she held these in tandem with Robert Bruce for
she too witnessed charters for King Robert (1306-29). With Edward Balliol's
victory over the Brucites at Dupplin Moor and the death of Robert Bruce
of Liddesdale, control of Hermitage castle was acquired by supporters
of Edward III and Ermygarda's lands were passed to Balliol's cousin, William Warenne (d.1349+). Whether this was done by King Edward Balliol's grant or not is uncertain.
On 16 March 1337, King Edward III,
hearing that the men of Eskdale, Liddesdale, Ewesdale, Wauchopdale and
Brettalach, our enemies and rebels, had raised wars against us, ordered
Ralph Dacre (d.1339) to hold courts at Roxburgh
and Dumfries to inquire who had given them arms and supplies to our
deception and in contempt of us? Sadly the reply to this did not
survive, but in 1338, William Douglas (d.1353) surprised and captured a
convoy of provisions on route to Hermitage castle. He then
proceeded to take the castle from William Warenne and stock it with the
provisions he had just captured. King Edward seems to have had no
answer to this attack. The castle is not mentioned amongst
English holds in 1341, viz. Edinburgh, Roxburgh, Berwick, Jedburgh, Lochmaben, unless it was thought of as one of those ‘little towers of moderate powers of resistence'.
Some 4 years later on 3 September 1341, King Edward III (1327-77) granted a writ of protection to the prior of Canonbie (Canunby),
which lay within the lordship of Thomas Wake (d.1349), for all those
Scots as well as English who dwelt with him in the said priory and
lordship. This lordship of Liddel was obviously merely the
English part of the Liddel valley and didn't include Hermitage
castle. The next year on 14 February 1342, King David II
(1329-71) granted William Douglas (d.1353) full and free possession of
Liddesdale. Two days later on 16 February 1342, King David
expanded on this grant commenting that this included all the lands in
the Vale of Liddel with their appurtenances just as they had been held
by William Soulis (d.1321). This included the whole honour
with its fees and fortifications and the homage and service of the
tenants with the advowson of the churches, the mills and all liberties
just as Soulis had held them before he forfeited them to King Robert (d.1329). Quite clearly the English and Scottish lordships had been divided again.
William Douglas jeopardised all of this on 20 June 1342, when he attacked Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie
and 3 of his men in Hawick church in a sacrilegious act rather
reminiscent of what Bruce had done to Comyn 36 years earlier. He
then took the wounded Ramsay of Dalousie
captive to his castle of Hermitage where he received neither care nor
nourishment until he died 17 days later on 7 July. Surprisingly,
William received no censure for this, but received back his tenure of
custody of Roxburgh and Teviotdale.
Douglas next came to the fore when he advised King David to invade English Liddesdale and take Liddel castle.
This the king and Douglas did in a most brutal manner. After this
Douglas advised that the king stopped his warlike operations against
England and waited upon events. However, the king decided to
rashly push on and thus came to grief at Neville's Cross on 17 October
1346. Both Douglas and his king were captured in the
battle. With this King Edward III seized back control of Roxburgh
and all Liddesdale with Hermitage castle. With all Liddesdale now
in his possession King Edward III ordered, on 6 November 1348, that
William Sandford should be put in possession of Wheel chapel in
Liddesdale (Whele in Scotia)
as William Emeldon, who had been given the church by Ralph Neville
(d.1367), was unwilling to enter into possession. This suggests
that Edwardian control of Scottish Liddesdale was already
uncertain. Six months later on 15 March 1349, King Edward Balliol
granted to his valet, William Stapleton, the lands which had belonged
to Adam Delmain and John Fitz William Engleys in Liddesdale and in
Hirdemanston in Tiviotdale as was confirmed by Edward III
as overlord. The earlier division of Scottish Liddesdale was also
noted on 4 November 1349, when it was recorded that half the lands
formerly held by William Soulis (d.1321) in Liddesdale had been
delivered to William Warenne (d.1349+), the cousin (consanguineus) of King Edward Balliol
(d.1364). These lands had previously been in the hands of
‘our cousin Ermygarde' daughter and heiress of the said William
Soulis. It was also noted that Warenne had held that half in
peace until William Douglas of Scotland (d.1353), now our prisoner, had
occupied Hermitage castle with a powerful army. William continued
in occupation until he was seized at the battle of Durham (Neville's
Cross on 17 October 1346) and the castle was recovered from him.
Considering these facts Hermitage castle was to be restored to
Warenne. The land was obviously still under Warenne's control on
10 February 1350, when 3,000m (£2,000) arising from certain
border lands amongst which were Liddesdale, were ordered to be paid to
constable of Roxburgh castle. The castle then seems to have passed to Lord Ralph Neville of Raby in 1352. He then exchanged the manor and castle of Ermitage with purtenances in Scotland and Cumberland with the king for 1 knight's fee. This agreement seems to have been made to allow King Edward III to hand Hermitage back to William Douglas (d.1353).
On 3 November 1351, the still incarcerated William Douglas resigned his lands of Newlandis and Kylboughok
to James Douglas (d.1420) his nephew. Possibly this was to exempt
these districts from English control. Then, on 17 July 1352,
William Douglas entered into an indenture with his king, he being his
prisoner. Douglas thereby bound himself to serve King Edward III
and his heirs in all his wars except in those against the Scots unless
at his own pleasure, with 10 men at arms and 10 hobelars at his own
cost. In return he would receive Hermitage, Liddesdale, half of
Moffat, le Corehede and other lands in Annan and the Moffat
Dales. Consequently on 24 July 1352, Ralph Neville (d.1367) was
ordered to deliver the castle and manor of Hermitage to William
Douglas. There can be little doubt that this agreement was the
cause of his murder the next year in Etterick Forest by his third
cousin, the Brucite William Douglas (d.1384).
William was dead by 14 October 1353, when Henry Percy (d.1352) and
Ralph Neville (d.1367) were granted power to deal with Elizabeth the
widow of William Douglas of Liddesdale and the matter of ‘her
surrender of Hermitage castle and her children to our hands'. In
opposition to this, on 12 February 1354, the murderous William Douglas
(d.1384) obtained a charter from King David II
(1329-71) of the lands of Douglasdale, Lauderdale, Eskdale, the forests
of Etrick, Selkirk, Jarrow and Tweed, the town, castle and forest of
Jedburgh, the barony of Bedrule (Bethokroule) within Roxburghshire, the barony of Romanok within Peebleshire, the barony of Buittle (Botill) in Galloway, the lands of the farm of Rothirglen from his uncle, James Douglas (d.1330); the lands of Liddesdale (Lydellisdale) with the castle (Hermitage), the barony of Kirkandrews (Kirkandris) in Dumfrieshire, the lands of Heriotmore, Rethtre
in Buchan, the baronies of Neell and Coull in Aberdeenshire, half the
lands of Logy Achry in Perthshire, the barony of Cauerys in
Roxburghshire, the baronies of Drumlangrig and Tareglys in
Dumfrieshire; the barony of Westercalder in Edinburghshire, the lands
of Graydone in Berwickshire from the part of William [should be
Archibald] lord of Douglas and all the other lands that belonged to
them, together with the leadership of the men of the shires of Roxburgh, Selkirk, Peebles and the Over Ward of Clyde. Quite clearly in Bruce's Scotland, murder did pay.
Meanwhile King Edward III had to
protect his lieges of Hermitage. Thus on 8 October 1354,
Elizabeth the widow of William Douglas, was taken under royal
protection having given her oath and fidelity to her king. The
same day Elizabeth received Hermitage castle and Liddesdale for her
life, with the castle and lordship being regranted to her, her husband
and their heirs if she married an Englishman, but in the event of their
being no issue the lordship and castle were to revert to the
Crown. Three barons were empowered to select an Englishman to
guard the castle at Elizabeth's expense against their Scottish enemies
until she might marry an Englishmen, but if she were to marry a
Scotsman the barony was to be forfeit to the Crown. On receiving
William Douglas' half of the chirograph made recently with the king,
this new letter patent should be given to her and the daughter and
nephew of her deceased husband, hostages in England, would be set
free. Ralph was also ordered to receive the men of Liddesdale
back into the king's peace if they wished to come. The matter was
settled the next year on 1 July 1355. On that day King Edward III
conceded to Elizabeth, the widow of William Douglas (d.1353), as well
as to Hugh Dacre (d.1383), her new husband, Hermitage castle and
Liddesdale. Further, the king wished it to be known that he had
made a convention with Elizabeth, the widow of the William Douglas who
had come to our faith and obedience and who had paid us liege homage,
having conceded to the same Elizabeth Hermitage castle and Liddesdale
for all Elizabeth's life as long as she married an Englishman.
Therefore she had chosen to marry Hugh the brother of William Dacre
(d.1361). The king therefore commanded that ‘they let our
people carry on and guard the aforesaid castle safely and securely for
our work and against the Scots or others who have rebelled against us,
unless they are surrounded, or in such danger that they cannot escape
except by death...' and that he himself... confirmed by the jury... has
received the homage and fidelity of Hugh himself for the castle and
valley....
In August 1355, Thomas Grey and William Dacre (d.1361), the elder
brother of Hugh, were captured at the battle of Nesbit by William
Douglas (d.1384). This was followed in September 1355, by a 9
month truce between England and Scotland and immediately broken by the
Scots. The result of these breaches of the truce was Edward III
invading Scotland and devastating Lothian in the ‘burnt
Candlemas' of January to February 1356. Despite this the truce
was reinstated in April 1356.
On 4 February 1357, William Douglas was created Earl Douglas, while the
Balliol war was finally brought to an end by the Treaty of Berwick on 3
October 1357. Not even a year later, Douglas recommenced
hostilities against Edward III.
On 6 June 1358, King Edward appointed as his arbitrators, Thomas
Musgrave, Thomas Grey and William Heron, to investigate whether
Hermitage castle was captured by William Douglas (d.1384) during time
of truce or not. They were also to investigate whether Archibald
Douglas and others had been captured by the English Borderers during
the time of the truce or not. That autumn the Cumberland
Marches were attacked. On 16 December 1358, Henry Percy (d.1368)
and the keepers of the truce were asked to get information regarding
the damage done to tenants of Margaret Dacre (d.1361, widow of Ralph
(d.1339) and mother of Hugh of Hermitage (d.1383)) in Cumberland
by our Scottish enemies both after and against the truce and bring the
perpetrators to justice. The king also allowed all the men
inhabiting Liddesdale and the neighbouring valleys to be permitted to
remain there, on them having given security to conduct themselves
properly towards Edward's subjects. The same day William (d.1361)
and Hugh Dacre (d.1383) were informed that the inhabitants of
Liddesdale would be allowed to remain under royal protection.
Hugh of course was no longer lord of Hermitage castle, that having now
passed under the control of Earl William Douglas (d.1384). Hugh
Dacre had therefore held Hermitage for a little under 3 years.
The idea that he built the first, unfortified castle during this time
of high tension is therefore seen as ludicrous, Hermitage being in
Dacre hands merely from 1 July 1355 to May 1358. Basically that
gave Hugh only the summer building months of 1357 to build the castle.
Despite the devastation of the war, the peace restored in the late
1350s seems to have led to the economic recovery of the district by
1376 when the church lands of Liddesdale were valued at £21 6s
8d, while the value of the whole of Liddesdale came to £341 16s
5d. Hermitage castle with Liddesdale, meanwhile passed into the
hands of James Douglas (d.1388), the son of Earl William (d.1384)
before 1380. Earl James was killed at Otterburn in 1388 and
Liddesdale with Hermitage passed to his widow, Countess Isabella
Stewart (d.1410). She appears not to have held it for long, if at
all, for on 19 June 1389, King Richard II
confirmed Malcolm Drummond [the husband of Isabella the daughter of
Earl William Douglas (d.1384)] in all of his lands. These
included Liddesdale. Presumably on his murder in 1402 the castle
passed back to Countess Isabella (d.1408) and on her death to her
nephew, Earl William of Angus (d.1437). He was succeeded by his
son, Earl James Douglas (d.1447). On 24 September 1444 Robert
Fleming of Cumbernauld bound himself to enter within ‘the iron
gate of Tantallon or Hermitage castle
upon 8 days' warning'. Quite obviously Hermitage castle was
fitted with a yett by this date. On Earl James' death in 1447 the
castle passed to his uncle, Earl George (d.1462), who on 24 May 1452,
appointed his relatives of Cavers bailiffs of Liddesdale and keepers of
the castle. Despite these changes of ownership there seems to
have been no violence at the castle. It was only on 2 April 1481,
that the king commanded that each lord should ‘stuff his own
house and strength with men, vitals and artillery and to amend and
repair them'. This missive was particularly sent to Hermitage
castle which was obviously seen as in the most danger. A year
later on 22 March 1482, 100 men were placed within the castle, but no
fighting is known to have taken place here.
Earl George's son, Earl Archibald Douglas of Angus (d.1514), exchanged Hermitage for Bothwell castle
on the Clyde with Earl Patrick Hepburn of Bothwell on 6 March
1492. This occurred after he made a treasonable agreement with
Henry VII of England (d.1509) on 16 November 1491, to make war on the
Scots if they should attack England as well as deliver Hermitage castle
and its lands to Henry who would supply Angus with equivalent lands in
England. The next year on 16 November 1493, Thomas Dacre
(d.1525), the second great grandson of Hugh Dacre of Hermitage
(d.1383), was appointed commissioner for England to treat about the
limits of the Debateable Land and the site and boundaries of Canonbie (Canaby) monastery. On 14 February 1540, Robert Maxwell of Caerlaverock
(d.1546) was given £100 ‘for beting and mending of the
Heremytage'. This is the standard sixteenth century
Scottish phraseology for repairing a castle. Whether or not these
repairs included the insertion of the gun ports and the making of the
revelins is another matter altogether.
The Bothwell tenureship of Hermitage appears quite uneventful despite
the attempt to paint this as ‘the bloodiest valley in Britain' -
a phrase actually coined by the excellent humourous writer George
MacDonald Fraser of Flashman fame in 1989. Earl James Hepburn of
Bothwell (d.1578) was visited here by Mary Queen of Scots in October
1566 after he had been wounded arresting border reivers. The ride
was later used as evidence by Mary's enemies that they were already
lovers, despite the fact that no suspicions were voiced at the time and
Mary had been accompanied on her ride by her councillors and
guards. Bothwell himself fled Scotland in 1567 after the battle
of Carberry. His nephew, Francis Stewart, was exiled in 1594 and
the castle was allowed to fall into ruin with the accession of James VI
to the English throne in 1603. This royal event had rendered the
castle's purpose as a border fortress, obsolete, while its isolated
position made it unattractive as a home.
Description
The medieval site at Hermitage is truly massive. It stretches
over 1,500' along the north bank of the Hermitage Water. At the
west end are a series of at least 3 rectangular enclosures, the
easternmost one containing the remains of Hermitage church. These
earthworks are not impressive and their highly rectangular nature
probably suggests that they are mainly agricultural, rather than
military. There are also agricultural earthworks on both sides of
the river around this area. A quarter of a mile east of the
church stands the rebuilt ruin of Hermitage castle.
Earthworks
Hermitage castle is set in the middle of nowhere about 500' above sea
level. It is overlooked by a barren upland waste in places some
500' higher. Its positioning for a castle is poor with little
natural defence other than the easily fordable river to the
south. Further, the overlooking ground to the north and south
would be excellent ground for placing artillery, whether torsion or
powder powered, to demolish the fortress, other than for the fact this
ground is boggy. This position was summed up in the mid sixteenth
century when Hermitage was described as ‘an old house, not
strong, but evil to take by reason of the saturated ground about
it'. The fortress itself is set between small streams flowing
into the Hermitage Water. These appear to have been channelled to
feed a wet moat around the castle earthworks.
The main castle seems to consist of 2 or 3 wards running northwards
from the river. The northernmost section consists of a
rectangular enclosure on the north side of a west to east running
stream that empties into the Hermitage Water some 500' east of the
castle proper. This stream has obviously been recut in a straight
line through the castle site and possibly this is a post medieval
devolvement that split the ‘outer' ward from the ‘middle'
one. The current outer enclosure is about 200' east to west by
120' deep and consists of a poor rampart on its north and west fronts,
while the east front has been eroded away by a stream. Towards
the castle to the south there is a more powerful rampart, apparently
thrown up by recutting the stream ditch. As this enclosure is on
a slightly south facing slope it is possible that it was once a
garden. South of this is the middle bailey which may once have
been part of the outer enclosure. This middle ward is now roughly
rectangular with straight, chamfered corners, being now about 200' wide
by 140' to 160' deep. The south-east portion of the ward has been
dug into by an artillery ravelin built upon the ditch of the old inner
ward in which the masonry castle stands. The whole ‘middle
ward' was ramparted and to east and west has a wide, flat bottomed moat
which is now dry. Beyond was a counterscarp.
The inner ward was slightly smaller than the middle ward, being about
220' east to west at its maximum extent and similarly 190' north to
south. It may originally have been rectangular, but has been much
altered. Specifically it has had artillery revelins added to the
west and north-east. These both project outwards powerfully into
what was probably the line of the original ward ditch. Other than
on the ravelins there is no rampart. Surrounding the whole is a
great moat up to 60' wide and 15' deep. There is slight evidence
that the moat may once have been revetted and to the north-east are the
remnants of an abutment which suggests that the original entrance to
the castle was where the current causeway and path lies. The
original early ‘castle' was entered from the south, while the
later tower house was entered from the west, relatively near to where
the abutment lies. There was also a causeway here that led to the
middle ward, but this has been cleared away in the nineteenth
century. Further, a glance at the 1814 engraving of the site,
shows clearly that this portion of the earthworks has been much altered
if the engraving is true. This shows no ditch to the south, but
mounds of turf, which were no doubt cleared away when the castle was
refurbished in the nineteenth century.
The First Masonry
The first surviving masonry on the site is almost certainly what
Historical Scotland wrongly call Dacre's Castle. In fact, even
the idea that only an Englishman could build such a structure - as
obviously masons could not cross an artificial boundary like the
Anglo-Scottish border - is fantastical. Quite obviously the
person who decided this silliness has never looked at such Scottish
ashlar builds as the keeps at Bothwell, Dalhousie, Direlton, Loch Doon, Morton or Kildrummy.
Similarly, they never mention which Northumbrian manor house their
'Dacre Castle' looks like, presumably because no such thing exists.
What is assumed to be the early building complex consists of a small
courtyard, 26' north to south by 14', which would appear to have been
the centre of a complex of buildings to north, east and west.
What lay to the south is uncertain, but currently the later main
entrance to the castle lies here in the later tower house
wall. To the north of the courtyard stands a spiral stair
accessed via a Romanesque style doorway with chamfered jambs. Two
further similar doorways lie to east and west along this wall and both
were locked with deep drawbars. These 2 doorways led into rooms
of which part of the courtyard walls only survive. These were
subdivided into 2 via east to west running cross arches which
terminated in buttresses on the courtyard side. A single, large
rectangular window remains in the eastern room. This suggests
that this chamber was originally residential and most certainly not
defensive. The junctions of the remaining walls with the
encasing tower house are most uncertain. The southern end
of the ‘early castle' east wall most certainly forms a butt joint
against the south wall of the tower house, suggesting that the tower
house predates the supposedly earliest structure. The southern
junction of the western wall does not reach the tower house at all,
although the lower jambs of a later door do butt against it here.
The crosswall on this side - or at least the traces of it - appears to
be a later addition inserted into the ashlar wall, although it is
possible that this was an arch, like its compatriot to the east.
The ‘early castle' east wall at first floor level obviously
penetrates the south wall of the tower house, though this does not seem
to be true at ground floor level. The tower house wall,
where it is penetrated, is also of a higher quality ashlar
masonry. Quite what has happened here is hard to say.
Certainly the masonry at the west wall junction is quite obviously
uniform, there being no trace of the ‘early' ashlar east wall
within it. Similarly the junctions to the north are
worrying. The northern end of the west wall clearly butts against
the north wall of the tower house and has been cut to do so at ground
floor level. Above, at first floor level, there is an irregular
scaring in the tower house wall, similar to the junction of the first
floor east wall into the south tower house wall. The implication
appears to be that the courtyard and associated walls post dates the
tower house. This is the opposite to received wisdom.
Perhaps then the exterior walls of the buildings around the courtyard
were totally destroyed before the tower house was built.
Certainly this problem requires further investigation.
Such problems with the ‘early castle' are multiplied by the odd
stairwell. This runs from the ground floor up towards first floor
level. Before first floor level is reached a flight of straight
steps run up to the east through the wall to the destroyed first floor
of the east chamber. On the west side, at first floor level, a
level passageway runs westwards to the western chamber. This is a
most odd design. Further, the stairwell itself is made of a
better ashlar than the courtyard and obviously continued on up to a
further stage or the roof of the original buildings. Some time
after the 1920s, the later stone filling in this vice was removed,
leaving an ugly third round gash and no trace of the original walls on
the remaining two thirds of the stair well. There is also a large
blocked window at second floor level in the tower house wall.
This would have been obscured by the western building wall if the early
building was still there. The question therefore is, was the
window blocked when the building was constructed - again reversing the
conventional wisdom that the courtyard is an earlier feature than the
encasing tower house. Apparently this ashlar masonry
contains some mason's marks, particularly the letter R, supposedly in a
fourteenth century script.
The Tower House
At some point in the castle's history the tower house was built.
This structure was 45' north to south by 80' east to west. To the
south-west was a small, projecting gatehouse, some 15' square.
This allowed a first floor entrance, although all trace of approaching
steps or forebuilding is now gone. The exterior of the gatetower
has also been refaced, leaving no trace of the original gate.
Internally the north side of the gate passageway remains and shows that
there were 2 portcullises, one set in the exterior wall and one in the
interior, both positioned centrally in the tower house wall. The
gate passageway had a flagstone floor and presumably a constable's
chamber above from where the portcullises could be operated.
Possibly this was originally a chapel, with the portcullises blocking
either the east or the west window into the tower presuming their
mechanisms were linked and they counter weighted each other. The
rear wall facing into the tower house at this point would appear to
have been wooden, judging from the joist holes in the surviving
wall. The original entrance gate was about 9' high and
rectangular. When it was filled in a gun port was placed in its
lower portion. This presumably happened in the early sixteenth
century, possibly when Robert Maxwell (d.1546) repaired the tower
before 1540. The gatetower appears to have risen 4 storeys high,
one more than the attached tower house, whose fourth storey is a later
addition.
The ground floor of the towerhouse contained the ‘early castle'
as previously described and a square well in the north-west
corner. The first floor must have been similar to the floor
below, divided into 3 equal chambers by the ‘early castle'.
Access to the basement was gained from here via the ‘early
castle' vice. This was also the only apparent access to the upper
floors. The first floor had 3 lights facing south, only one at
the east end of the north wall and one loop facing west. There
was a fireplace in the east wall and possibly another over the main
basement entrance to the south. The second floor apparently
consisted of one chamber, although it may have been divided by a
crosswall, possibly an upper level of the surviving ‘early
castle' east chamber below. This floor again had 3 loops facing
south and 2 north. There was also a single loop facing west,
covering the apparent entrance to the inner ward. This was later
blocked by the building of the North-West Tower. Finally, a top
or third floor was added to the tower when 3 different sized square
corner towers were added to all corners but the south-west where the
gatetower was.
The Three Square Towers
Oddly the 4 towers added to the corners of the tower house were all of
different sizes. The smallest at 22' square was to the north-east
and was called the Prison Tower due to the small prison set in its
basement. This was accessed via a dog-legged passage from the
tower house at first floor level. A gun port was also added
facing east at this level in the sixteenth century, while a garderobe
was in the north-east corner. At second floor level another
dog-legged passage led through the tower house wall, while loops were
made tight against the east and north walls. At third floor level
loops were provided to north and east, while a garderobe was set in the
north-west corner. The base of the tower has a gentle sloping
plinth.
The next largest was the Postern or Well Tower at 25' square. A
diagonal passageway was cut through the tower house wall for basement
access, while within was a well in the south-east corner and an
inserted gun port to the west covering the south entrance to the
castle. In the north face of the tower was a postern equipped
with a portcullis operated from the first floor. This chamber
could be reached via the oddest stone steps set on an arch against the
east wall of the tower. This more resembles a Hollywood film set
rather than a medieval castle. The reason for this is that it is
almost certainly dating only from the 1830s. A more normal
dog-legged passageway was cut through the side of the tower house
south-east loop embrasure for access to this level. There was
also a loop in the tower facing the east. The second floor was
entered from a conventual doorway cut through the tower house
wall. However, as this was not angled it was necessary to cut
back the interior of the west wall of the tower to allow
entrance. A loop was also fitting along this set back. For
some reason the south and east walls were similarly setback, although
neither south corner was. In the east wall a mural passageway
serviced the projecting garderobes. This would have had 3 exit
chutes, but they are all currently blocked, while only one seat
survives to the north internally. Presumably the rest of the
structure, or maybe its upper storey, has been factored out in the
nineteenth century rebuilding. Again the base of the tower has a
gentle sloping plinth, but at the summit are the remnants of a pointed
vaulted roof.
The third largest tower was to the north-west and was 28' square.
Internally it had a square basement with the 2 northern corners
chamfered off. There was also a drain running through the tower
on this side and served by a slight ditch along the north front of the
tower house. The tower was entered at first floor level by a
normal doorway. The irregular shaped room within had a gun port
to the east, a large window to the north and another gun port to the
west. The second floor had plain loops to north and east, but was
blind to the west, although part of the south face had been chamfered
off to allow light into the otherwise blocked tower house loop.
The summit of this chamfering was a single large lintel supported on 2
corbels forming a shoulder headed roof. Such a style was typical
in the period 1250 to 1350. Internally on the top floor the
north-west and south-east corners of the tower house were chamfered off
to allow more room in the towers. Once again the base of the
tower has a gentle sloping plinth and the remnants of a pointed barrel
vaulted roof.
The Kitchen Tower
The final building stage of the castle would appear to have been the
addition of the largest of the 4 corner towers, the Kitchen
Tower. This is obviously of a different built to the rest of the
castle with the masonry consisting of more courses of narrow slabs than
the rest of the structure which tends more to large rectangular
blocks. Even so, the date difference is probably not large as the
fitments are generally similar throughout the castle. This tower
must have been the last addition to the castle as it meshes with the
later top floor of the tower house which appears to have been built
contemporaneously with the other 3 corner towers. The south-west
corner of the tower house was demolished to allow easier access to the
new tower which was built from the first as 4 storeys. The
destruction of this corner of the tower also allowed the upper storeys
of the old gatehouse to be utilised as part of the new kitchen tower.
The ground floor of the tower was used as a kitchen which was accessed
via a flight of steps down from the first floor of the tower
house. The kitchen was lit via 3 loops, one to the west and 2 to
the east. A great oven occupied the south-west corner of the
tower. The first, second and third floors were residential and
were equipped with fireplaces and garderobes, the top floor having an
unusually ornate window containing an oculus to the south. This
floor was also the only one with an instep, but only on the south
side. The blocked window loops in the fortress and the differing
heights of various fitments suggests the tower was upgraded from time
to time and the floor levels changed. The oculus and great south
window are probably sixteenth century.
The Upper Storey of the Castle and the Nineteenth Century Remodelling
It is plainly obvious that much rebuilding has gone on in the castle
during the great restoration of the 1830s. Unfortunately this was
so thorough it is difficult to tell real medieval architecture from
Gothic revival. As a singular example of this, the fireplace in
the south-west corner of the Kitchen Tower fits across 2 storeys and
has had the broken jagged edges, which once must have been there,
covered over with a new facing. However, its now perfect remains
cannot have been functional as it stands. The masonry has been
patched up preserving what is left, but leaving the viewer uncertain as
to what is patching and what original. This is true throughout
the castle where all the remaining fitments are in near perfect
condition.
To help untangle this sorry mess it is possible to fall back on 3 old
sketches of the castle, thankfully from 3 different angles. Sadly
these all concentrate on views of the castle from the north and east
and none show the extraordinary west front. However, what they do
show gives a very worrying picture of the disastrous 1830
rebuilding. The first sketch was by William Scott Junior in
1810. This gives great detail and shows that the Kitchen tower
was pretty much as it is now, except for the fact that its ruined
battlements have been removed, the corbelled out summit apparently
having had some 5' of its height removed. Further, on its eastern
face a rectangular window has been shrunk in size on its ground floor
and a small loop apparently filled in. Within the south curtain
many more modifications have taken place. These include the
apparent filling in of a drain chute similar to that found on the south
face of the Kitchen Tower, the blocking of a large first floor window
immediately above this and apparently the opening up of the south
door. The worst crime to Medieval architecture on this front
though, is the addition of the gable to the machicolations nearly
overhanging this door. The greatest disfigurement of all,
however, has been reserved for the poor, abused east front of the ruin.
The Well Tower has been massively augmented in the 1830s. A first
floor loop to the south has been filled in from the ragged gash it once
was. Above on the second floor another ragged gash has been
converted into a narrow loop similar to the blocked ones in the Kitchen
Tower. Finally, the ludicrous gable has been added to the remains
of the roof vault. The worst crime against medieval architecture,
however, has been reserved for the west front in its entirety.
Quite clearly from this and the other early sketches, the centre of the
western front between the Well and Prison Towers had collapsed.
The Well Tower's north front had totally gone, leaving a ragged tear
from next to the top floor doorway, running diagonally to the ground
where the jagged edge shows that even the quoins at ground level had
gone. The enceinte only reappears with the Prison Tower and this
similarly was lacking its south side - the unevenness of this front,
compared to the straightness of its north front, showing that this too
had lost it's quoins. It is therefore plain that the ludicrous
massive arch between the 2 towers is not a replacement of a medieval
structure, unique in the world, but a mock-Gothic fantasy.
The top of the projecting garderobe is also shown in the sketches as
heavily damaged. Clearly this was totally repaired and
unnaturally regularised in the 1830s. The Prison Tower also has
suffered further indignity by having its second floor rectangular
window removed and all external trace of it obliterated. Also
another of the ludicrously unmedieval gables has been added at this end
of the structure. The old 1814 engraving, tends to confirm all
these modifications, although this artist was not as fastidious as
Scott. He does, however, appear to show that more of the internal
section of the Prison Tower had collapsed.
Finally, there is a pre-restoration sketch of the north front of the
castle. This too shows much abuse to the fortress fabric.
Firstly, it confirms that there were no gables on the castle's east
end. It also shows that the Prison Tower was rent on its north
face from near the ground up to the top of the second floor.
Further, no narrow loops are shown at all on this front, despite there
now being 5 there at the present time with 1 each in the Prison and
North-West Towers and 3 in the north curtain. Instead, in the
north curtain, there are 2 large rectangular windows directly under the
second hoarding doorway from the east where there is now merely a plain
wall. Further, the easternmost hoarding doorway is not there
either, the wall at this point having collapsed. Although the gun
port in the North-West Tower is not shown a rectangular window is on
the floor below this. Again, no window is shown at gun port level
in the north wall of the tower, despite there being one there
now. Also, the narrow loop now seen above it was, before the 1830
rebuilding, a rectangular window similar to the one now seen beneath
it. The most noticeable feature, however, is the broad gash from
the ground up to the second floor to where there appears to have been a
rectangular window. This has now all been filled in with a well
cut, red sandstone ashlar work. This work is also seen at the
base of the North-West Tower and must show rebuilding work.
This leads to the final point about the rebuilding - the west
facade. Is this original or nineteenth century mock-Gothic
fantasy? Oddly this arch is much more poorly built than that to
the east, while the masonry directly above the arch has less narrow
levelling courses within its structure than the walling on either
side. That said, the masonry coursing does seem uniform.
However, on the south corner of the North-West Tower several blocks of
protruding stone are evident which suggests the arch was originally
intended to spring out much lower down and this design was changed for
the higher arch before building. This probably clinches the
matter that the west front arch is also only dating from the
1830s. With these monstrosities stripped from the castle ruins,
there would be left a normal tower house with 4 towers on the corners.
Dating the Castle
The dating of elements of the castle come down to the guesswork of the
architects David MacGibbon (1831-1902) and Thomas Ross (1839-1930) in
the late nineteenth century. Unfortunately they were totally
taken in by the mock-Gothic rebuilding of the 1830s and the lack of
research into the early castle origins. They therefore plumped
for a mid fourteenth century date and thoughtlessly allocated its
building to a big man, William Douglas (d.1353), simply on the grounds
that he ‘would naturally erect a rectangular keep in the style
then prevalent'. And that's it. The entire ‘history'
of Hermitage summed up in a nutshell, without evidence, in what is
otherwise an excellent book on trying to sort out military
architecture. What is stunning is that the baseless assertions of
these men who were not historians, have been accepted by people who
claim to be historians ever since.
Although it is clear where previous dating attempts have gone astray,
what date should really be applied to the various parts of Hermitage
castle? That question is not so easy to answer and will probably
always remain a mystery, even with excavation considering the site
clearances that have occurred. The tower house with corner towers
does bear some resemblance to other northern castles, namely the minute
Dacre and Dally castles as well as Tarset. The latter 2 are reckoned to be thirteenth century and Scottish built, even though they are in Northumberland. Dacre
was the fortress of Hugh Dacre (d.1383), but the current remains are
assigned, without evidence, to the latter half of the fourteenth
century. So really this fails to advance any dating argument
anywhere. The only thing that can be said is that the
shoulder headed windows that abound throughout the castle tend to date
from 1250 to 1350. This suggests that the Kitchen Tower was
complete by this date. This in turn might suggest that the tower
house dates back to the 1240s and the central courtyard is the remnant
of a real hermitage, perhaps part of the carucate of land lost by
Berwick hospital in or before 1244.
Why not join me
at and other
Great Scottish Castles this Spring?
Information on tours at Scholarly
Sojourns.
Copyright©2019
Paul Martin Remfry