Hutton Castle

Hutton Castle stands in the Scottish Borders on a rise above the Whiteadder Water, two and a half kilometres south-east of Chirnside and eleven kilometres west of Berwick-on-Tweed. The building began as a tower in the 16th century for the Homes of Wedderburn and later became the seat of the Johnstons of Hilton. From the early 19th century it belonged to the Marjoribanks family, who left it partly ruinous by the late 19th century. In 1544 English forces under Harry Eure burned part of the hall during the Rough Wooing, and in 1588 the diplomat Robert Bowes met here to hand over £2000 in gold to Sir John Carmichael. The castle was bought in 1916 by Sir William Burrell, a Glasgow shipowner and art collector, who planned to restore and enlarge it. After disagreements with the architect Robert Lorimer, he employed Reginald Fairlie to build the north wing in 1926. Burrell moved in the next year and lived there with his collection until his death in 1958. In 1944 he and his wife Constance gave their art to Glasgow, stipulating that rooms from Hutton should be recreated in the new museum. When the Burrell Collection opened in 1983, exact replicas of the castle’s dining room, drawing room and hall were installed in Pollok Park. Since the late 1990s the castle has been restored again as a private home and is listed as a category B building. The surrounding landscape includes the valley of the Whiteadder Water and distant views towards the Lammermuir Hills. The drive approaches through parkland planted in the 19th century by the Marjoribanks family. Inside, the north wing added by Fairlie still houses the main reception rooms in a style that reflects Burrell’s vision.