Floors Castle in Kelso, Scotland is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is a country house, rather than a fortress. It has the common 18th century layout of main block and two symmetrical service wings. It was built in around 1721 by William Adam for the 1st Duke, incorporating an earlier tower house. In the 19th century it was embellished with turrets and battlements by William Playfair for the 6th Duke. It is now open to the public. The centre of Kelso with its cobbled square. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... The Duke of Roxburghe (pronounced Roxbruh) is a title in the peerage of Scotland created in 1707 along with the titles Viscount Broxmouth, Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford and Earl of Kelso. ... In Britain (and also in Ireland) the term country house generally refers to a large house which was built on an agricultural estate as the private residence of the landowner. ... William Adam (1684 - 1748) was a Scottish architect and builder, born in Fife, Scotland. ... A tower house stands on a hillock near Quin along the back road from Limerick to Ennis. ... William Playfair (September 22, 1759 - February 11, 1823) a Scottish engineer and political economist, was an important inventor of statistical graphics. ...
To the north of the Borders town of Kelso is the magnificent and imposing FloorsCastle, home to the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe.
The present FloorsCastle was built for the 1st Duke of Roxburghe in 1721 who commissioned William Adam to create a plain, but symmetrical neo-classical Georgian country house.
FloorsCastle today is the largest inhabited caste in Scotland but apart from being a private ancestral home, several of the fabulous State rooms are open to the public through the summer months.
Floors was originally a house of classical design by William Adam, enlarged at about the same time into a Victorian extravaganza of pepper-pot turrets, pseudo-defensive parapets and sprawling out-buildings.
The castle had passed with the hand of its heiress the Countess of Sutherland, and it was their son who commissioned Sir Charles Barry to enlarge his home and who added so lavishly to its treasures.
In 1892 the Innes-Ker Duke of Roxburghe married Mary Goelet, an American millionaire's daughter, and in her wake came a dowry that consisted largely of loot from the French Revolution that had already survived one crossing of the Atlantic.
Feeds |
Contact