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Bowden, Scottish Borders
Bowden is a village in the Roxburghshire area of the Scottish Borders, situated 3 miles (5 kilometres) south of Melrose, 2 miles (3 kilometres) west of Newtown St Boswells and tucked in the shadow of the Eildon Hills, Scotland.
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1.8 km
Castle Holydean
Holydean Castle (pronounced "hollydeen") was a castle sited near Melrose in Bowden, 1.25 miles SW of the village, in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, and the former Roxburghshire.
The castle was founded by King David I. It was destroyed in 1276, rebuilt in 1530 by Dame Ker, and destroyed again by the 3rd Duke of Roxburghe in 1760. Very little of it now remains. This Norman castle was named after the Lords Holydean, who were originally the deans of Kelso Abbey: monks who held great power in what was one of the largest feudal territories and most profitable regions of Scotland. The peerage title, barony, and castle eventually went to the Kerrs who were made Earls of Roxburghe, and later Dukes.
Holydean Farm stands on the site of the old Holydean Castle. A stone block rescued from the castle now forms the lintel of the farmhouse doorway, and the castle well is still preserved. The castle's alternative name is Hobbie Ker's Well.
1.8 km
Eildon Hill
Eildon Hill lies just south of Melrose, Scotland in the Scottish Borders, overlooking the town. The name is usually pluralised into "the Eildons" or "Eildon Hills", because of its triple peak. The 422 metres (1,385 ft) high eminence overlooks Teviotdale to the South. The north hilltop (of three peaks) is surrounded by over 5 km (3.1 mi) of ramparts, enclosing an area of about 16 ha (40 acres) in which at least 300 level platforms have been cut into the rock to provide bases for turf or timber-walled houses, forming one of the largest hill forts known in Scotland. A Roman army signalling station was later constructed on the same site as this hill fort.
The mid hilltop is the highest, whilst the south hilltop is the lowest. The hills are owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, Scotland's largest private landowner. As with all land in Scotland the public have a right of responsible access to the hills, and there are many paths crossing the area and leading to all three summits.
The hills form part of the Eildon and Leaderfoot National Scenic Area, one of forty national scenic areas in Scotland, which have been defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. The areas protected by the national scenic area (NSA) designation are considered to represent the type of scenic beauty "popularly associated with Scotland and for which it is renowned". The Eildon and Leaderfoot NSA covers 3877 ha, and extends to include the town of Melrose, Scott's View and Leaderfoot Viaduct.
2.0 km
Eildon Hall (Scottish Borders)
Eildon Hall, near St Boswells, Roxburghshire, is one of the houses belonging to the Dukes of Buccleuch and Queensbury. It is located at the foot of Eildon Hill, just south of the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders. Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (née Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott, daughter of the seventh Duke) is very descriptive of Eildon Hall, her childhood home, in her memoirs. She describes it as a "Georgian house with Victorian additions, made from the local coral pink sandstone," and "standing 600 feet above sea level." She also describes the view from the house as a "wonderful view of the valley below stretching away to the Cheviots thirty miles distant."
Eildon Hall is used as a principal residence by whosoever happens to be the Earl of Dalkeith, heir to the Dukedom of Buccleuch. "Perhaps because Eildon was the first grown-up home of aspiring Dukes of Buccleuch," wrote Princess Alice, "and has therefore always been a young family's house, it has a charmingly domestic air." It is less known than the other properties of the Montagu Douglas Scott family--Drumlanrig Castle, Bowhill House, and Boughton House, all three of which are where the bulk of the Duke of Buccleuch collections are housed. The family of the Earl of Dalkeith will generally use it until he inherits the title of Duke of Buccleuch, such as in the cases of the respective fathers of Princess Alice of Gloucester and Elizabeth, Duchess of Northumberland (née Lady Elizabeth Montagu Douglas Scott). Lady Elizabeth, who died as Dowager Duchess of Northumberland in 2012, was the daughter of Princess Alice's brother, Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch and lived at Eildon Hall until 1935 when her grandfather, the seventh Duke, died.
When Princess Alice was growing up, Eildon Hall part of the succession of houses where the family lived throughout the year. After spending the "Season" at Montagu House in London, her parents, siblings, and she would travel up to Eildon House and stay there through the end of summer. Then they would move to Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire. Christmas was invariably spent at Dalkeith House near Edinburgh. In the new year, they would move to Bowhill, thence to Boughton at Easter, to London for the Season, back to Eildon Hall and so on.
2.4 km
Newtown St Boswells
Newtown St Boswells (Scots: Newtoon; Scottish Gaelic: Baile Ùr Bhoisil [ˈpaləˈuːɾˈvɔʃɪl]) is a village in the Scottish Borders council area, in south-east Scotland. The village lies south of the Eildon Hills on the Sprouston and Newtown burns, approximately 40 miles (64 km) south-east of Edinburgh. It is the administrative centre of the Scottish Borders, and was historically in the county of Roxburghshire.