Cockburnspath Tower, a ruined old fortalice, near the railway, 1
mile E of Cockburnspath village, stands on the edge of a ravine or
pass, which it seems to have been intended to defend, and belonged
successively to the Earls of Dunbar, to members of the royal
family, and to the Earls of Home.
Cockburnspath Tower sits beside the A1 road to Berwick upon
Tweed to the East of the village of Cockburnspath. The ruined keep
and outbuildings sit near a ravine crossed by a stone bridge to the
East and you should approach from this direction. At the time of
placing the cache, the site is rather overgrown and muddy in places
so I'd recommend appropriate footwear.
The present castle ruin dates from the late 15th/early 16th
centuries, containing an oblong plan keep with two rectangular plan
block houses (possibly with crowstepped gables). The larger
building with storage vaults at basement level with a hall or
barracks level above. While the smaller building almost a lean-to
against the keep may have been a kitchen block with guard room.
It is claimed that the 'Red' Douglases had 3,000 men stationed
here in 1546 when feuding with the Homes over ownership of the
Tower. This figure seems improbable since the castle site today is
just so small. But perhaps, like so many other keeps of the period
it was surrounded by a 'Barmkin' wall, with fortified ditch and an
outer/adjoining 'castle-town' village, which would have been able
to accommodate so many troops.
Some have identified the Tower with ` Ravenswood Castle, ' in
Sir Walter Scott's - Bride of Lammermoor.
