Thornton Castle was a Scottish fortress belonging to the Montgomery family and subsequently Lord Home near

Innerwick Innerwick () is a coastal civil parish and small village, which lies in the east of East Lothian, from Dunbar and approximately from Edinburgh. Name The name Innerwick is of Anglo-saxon origin and means inland farm or dwelling place. It was ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

. Thornton Castle was on the opposite side of Thornton Glen to

Innerwick Castle Innerwick Castle is a ruined castle in East Lothian, Scotland, near the village of Innerwick, from Dunbar, on the Thornton Burn, and overlooking Thornton Glen. History The castle, built in the 14th century on "the edge of a precipitous glen", ...

, which is a mile east of Innerwick village. It was blown up in September 1547.

Montgomery and Home

After the death of Hugh Montgomery of Thornton in 1477, his son and heir John Montgomery gave the lands of Nether and Over Thornton to his wife Alison Hamilton, a daughter of Archibald Hamilton of Innerwick. John Montgomery quarrelled with his father's widow Isobel Houston over farmland at Thornton and withheld her household goods including a "great dozen" of pewter vessels. He was asked to return cattle which he had stolen from the sons of Lord Home at

Stenton Stenton () is a parish and village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is bounded on the north by parts of the parishes of Prestonkirk and Dunbar, on the east by Spott and on the west by Whittingehame. The name is said to be of Saxon derivation. T ...

in 1482. After Montgomery stole from the lands of Hoprig at

Cockburnspath Cockburnspath ( ) is a village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dunbar. Cockburnspath is the eastern terminus of the Southern Upland Way as well as the northern terminus of ...

in 1482, James III gave restitution to William Baillie by "comprising" Montgomery's lands. Alison Hamilton was confirmed as owner of the lands of Thornton in May 1502 by

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

, although the transfer of the lands by John Montgomery in 1477 was declared invalid.

Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home (c.1450s – 5 September 1506) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, Lord Chamberlain of Scotland and Warden of the Eastern March. Life Lord Home was the son of Alexander Home, Master of Home and Agnes Hepburn, ...

was given some of the lands of Thornton in 1500 and 1502, as acknowledged in Alison Hamilton's confirmation. James IV made a further grant of the lands of Thornton to

Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home (died 1516) was a Scottish soldier and nobleman, Chamberlain of Scotland and Warden of the Eastern March. He fought at the Battle of Flodden where his forces defeated the English right wing before the Scottish army ...

on 28 April 1507. This grant was made by James IV on behalf of his infant son, Prince James, who was

Steward of Scotland Prince and Great Steward of Scotland is one of the titles of the heir apparent to the British throne. The holder since 8 September 2022 is Prince William, who bears the other Scottish titles of Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Lord of the ...

and feudal overlord of Thornton.

Rough Wooing

Thornton Castle and Innerwick Castle were captured and destroyed by the English army before the

battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crowns, ...

in September 1547, during the war known as the

Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (; December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following the English Reformation, the break with the Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland ...

. Thornton was held by Tom Trotter for George Home, 4th Lord Home. The English commander, the

Duke of Somerset Duke of Somerset, from the county of Somerset, is a title that has been created five times in the peerage of England. It is particularly associated with two families: the Beauforts, who held the title from the creation of 1448, and the Seymours ...

sent the

Somerset Herald Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an Officer of Arms, officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. In the year 1448 Somerset Herald is known to have served Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, but by the time of the coronation of Henr ...

to Trotter to demand surrender. Trotter said he would speak with the duke, but rode away, leaving a small garrison to defend the house. Four cannons bombarded Thornton Castle while foot soldiers with

muskets A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

directed by

Peter Meutas Peter Meutas or Mewtas, or Mewtis, or Meautis, or Meautys (died 1562) was an English courtier and soldier.Ogier, D. M., 'Mewtas , Sir Peter (d. 1562)', in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004online ed ...

prevented the defenders shooting from the gunloops. Eventually the garrison surrendered to

Miles Partridge Sir Miles Partridge (died 26 February 1552) was an English courtier and a soldier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was arrested in 1551, before being convicted of felony and hanged, as part of the factional struggle that followe ...

and the castle was demolished with gunpowder.William Patten, ''The Late Expedition into Scotland'' (1548), in A. E. Pollard, ''Tudor Tracts'' (London, 1903), pp. 86–9
/ref> No visible structures remain of the castle today. Thornton in

is sometimes confused with Thorntoun in

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

References

External links

Thornton Castle, East Lothian, HES/RCAHMS Canmore

Thornton Glen, Scottish Wildlife Trust

Thornton Glen, Woodland Trust
{{coord, 55.954434, -2.425256, display=title Castles in East Lothian Castles and forts of the Rough Wooing