Monteviot House is the early 18th century home of the

Marquess of Lothian Marquess of Lothian is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, which was created in 1701 for Robert Kerr, 1st Marquess of Lothian, Robert Kerr, 4th Earl of Lothian. The Marquess of Lothian holds the subsidiary peerages of Earl of Lothian (created ...

, the politician better known as

Michael Ancram Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, Baron Kerr of Monteviot, (7 July 1945 – 1 October 2024), commonly known as Michael Ancram, was a British politician and peer who served as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party fr ...

. It is located on the

River Teviot The River Teviot (; ), or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and is the largest tributary of the River Tweed by catchment area. The Teviot is an important river for wildlife, especially the Atlantic salmon, but ...

near

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

area of Scotland.

History

The house which sits within of land and it was built in about 1740. The lyricist Jean Elliot who wrote words to the lament Flowers of the Forest, died at Monteviot, her brother's house, on 29 March 1805. Her brother Admiral John Eliot died here in 1808 after a distinguished career as Governor of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and rose to be an Admiral of the White. He left his estates to Gilbert Elliot, first earl of Minto. file:River Teviot from Monteviot House Garden - geograph.org.uk - 201458.jpg, left,

from Monteviot House garden Further building work took place in 1830 just before John Kerr, 7th Marquess of Lothian married Cecil Kerr (noblewoman), Lady Cecil Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot. The couple were based at

Newbattle Abbey Newbattle Abbey was a Cistercians, Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently became a stately home and then an educational institution. Monastery It was founded in 1140 by monks from Melrose ...

but Cecil Kerr preferred Monteviot. She had moved to Monteviot in 1840 in order to attend the

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

church in Kelso. When she commissioned her first church, St John's, it was in nearby

. In 1950 the 12th Marquess and his wife Tony moved from

Melbourne Hall Melbourne Hall is a Georgian style country house in Melbourne, Derbyshire, previously owned by the 2nd Viscount Melbourne, British Prime Minister from 1835 to 1841. The house is now owned by the 14th Marquess of Lothian and is open to the pu ...

to the Scottish Borders in 1950 where they oversaw the restoration of Monteviot House. They did not move into the house until 1962. In the late 20th century the 12th Marquess repurchased and restored the old family seat of

Ferniehirst Castle Ferniehirst Castle (sometimes spelled Ferniehurst) is an L-plan castle, L-shaped construction on the east bank of the Jed Water, about a mile and a half south of Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and in the former county of Ro ...

. They moved into the castle in 1986. The Lothians also used to own two grander country houses,

Blickling Hall Blickling Hall is a Jacobean stately home situated in 5,000 acres of parkland in a loop of the River Bure, near the village of Blickling north of Aylsham in Norfolk, England. The mansion was built on the ruins of a Tudor building for Sir He ...

, which now belongs to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, and

, which is now the site of an adult education college.

References

External links

{{commonscat, Monteviot
Monteviot - Official Monteviot House websiteRCAHMS/Canmore record of Monteviot HouseRCAHMS record of Monteviot House, DovecoteSCRAN image: Attractive garden beside the River Teviot at MonteviotSCRAN image: Wellington's Column on top of Peniel Heugh on the Monteviot estate
* ttp://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst1065.html Gazetteer for Scotland, Michael Ancram, 13th Marquess of Lothianbr>Royal Horticultural Society leaflet: Recommended Gardens for 2010Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Walter Schomberg Hepburn ScottGOOGLEbook "Sculpture and the garden" by Patrick Eyres, Fiona Russell
Country houses in the Scottish Borders Gardens in the Scottish Borders Historic house museums in the Scottish Borders Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Scottish gardens in the English Landscape Garden style Herbert Baker buildings and structures

History

See also

References

External links