Bedrule Castle

Bedrule Castle stands in the Rule Valley, a quiet stretch of the Scottish Borders. Built in the 13th century by the Comyn family, it once commanded views over the surrounding countryside from its raised mound. Edward I of England spent a night nearby in 1298 while moving his army north. After the Comyns lost their lands, the Douglas family took over and let the Turnbulls live there as tenants. The castle’s history is marked by fierce local conflicts. In 1511, James IV captured several Turnbulls and took them to Jedburgh. During the Rough Wooing in 1544, English raiders burned Bedrule along with fifteen other steadings and drove off hundreds of cattle and sheep. The castle was attacked again the following year after the Scots won at Ancrum Moor. By the late 16th century, the Turnbulls had lost and regained the castle more than once. Today the ruins show a series of grassy mounds and scattered stones on an artificial rise. A low wall divides the site unevenly, with the remains of two gatehouses still visible on the northwest side. Rule Water flows along the western edge, and the parish church lies about 200 yards to the southeast. Excavations in 2021 and 2022 uncovered traces of the keep and parts of the curtain wall, while geophysical surveys revealed buried rectangular features and possible outer earthworks.