Cessford Castle is a large ruined mid-15th century L-plan castle near the village of Cessford, midway

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in s ...

and Kelso, in the historic county of

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and ...

, now a division of the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...

. The Castle is ''caput'' of the Barony of Cessford, and the principal stronghold of the Kers/Kerrs, notorious

Border Reivers Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their v ...

, many of whom served as Wardens of the Middle March.

History

Cessford was built around 1450 by Andrew Ker, an ancestor of

Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe (1650) was a Scotland, Scottish nobleman. Early life He was the eldest son of William Ker of Cessford (died 1605), and Janet Douglas. His mother was the widow of Clan Tweedie, James Tweedie of Drumelzier, and ...

, and of the Dukes of Roxburghe. It is from this place that the Duke takes his subsidiary titles: Baron Ker of Cessford, and Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford. It is possible that the castle incorporates parts of an earlier structure. The fortalice was built on an L-plan, with a main

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

with a wing of almost the same magnitude. With up to six storeys, two of which were barrel vaulted, and with walls up to thick, it was a formidable place of defence. The angle of the building was enclosed by a single-storey defensive gatehouse, and the whole was surrounded by a barmekin and defensive earthworks, a fact that is corroborated by the record of English troops having to use an

escalade {{Unreferenced, date=May 2007 Escalade is the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders. Escalade was a prominent feature of sieges in ancient and medieval warfare, and though it is no longer common in modern war ...

to gain access to the castle courtyard during the siege of 1523. The castle was besieged in 1523 by the

Earl of Surrey Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror. It is currently held as a subsidiary title by the Dukes of Norfolk ...

who remarked: "It might never have been taken had the assailed been able to go on defending". The castle was abandoned in 1650.

Historical incidents

After

Berwick upon Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

was captured by Richard, Duke of Gloucester in July 1482, Henry Percy,

Earl of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most ...

burnt a number of places in the area. At the end of his campaign, on 22 August 1482 he knighted twenty of his soldiers at the " mains of Sessford."Metcalfe, Walter Charles, ''A book of Knights Banneret etc.,'', London (1885), p. 5-6, citing BL Cotton Ms. Claudius, c.iii, fol. 61-67: Hall, Edward, ''Chronicle'' (1809), p. 332

Notes

References

Groome, F.H. (1884) ''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland in VI Vols''. Edinburgh: Thomas C. Jack.

External links

SCRAN: Cessford Castle, siege of 1523RCAHMS: CessfordRCAHMS: Cessford Castle
{{coord, 55, 30, 27.74, N, 2, 24, 50.69, W, display=title Castles in the Scottish Borders Category B listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed castles in Scotland Tower houses in Scotland

History

Historical incidents

See also

Notes

References

External links