skip to main content
Menu
  • Blog
    • Art & design
    • Castles
    • Cycling
    • Edinburgh
    • Edinburgh Festival
    • Food & drink
    • General
    • History
    • Music
    • Sport
    • Walking
    • Whisky
    • Wildlife
  • Castles
    • Glossary
    • Mottes
    • Stay in a castle
    • Castle blog posts
    • Alphabetical list of castles
    • Castles divided by county
    • Photos of castles
    • Castles we've visited
  • History
    • Castles
    • Ancient history
      • barrows
      • brochs
      • cairns
      • caves
      • chambered cairns
      • cists
      • crannogs
      • cursus monuments
      • forts
      • henges
      • rock art
      • sacred sites
      • souterrains
      • standing stones
      • stone circles
    • Pictish history
      • Pictish stones
      • Pictish sites
      • Pictish placenames
    • Clans
      • Surnames
      • Trace your ancestors
      • Tartan
    • Trace your ancestors
  • Culture
    • Music
      • Bands & musicians
      • Music links
    • Film
    • Television
    • Placenames
      • Pictish placenames
  • Eat
  • Drink
    • Scottish beer
    • Scottish gin
    • Scottish vodka
  • Stay
  • Travel guide
    • City guides
    • Car hire
    • Airports
  • Walking
    • Munros
    • West Highland Way
  • Photos
    • ancient sites
      • Dark Age sites
      • megalithic sites
      • other carved stones
      • Pictish sites
      • Roman sites
    • buildings
    • miscellaneous
    • places in Scotland
  • Offers
  • Home
  • history
  • castles

Mellerstain House


Mellerstain House is largely an 18th century country house, but may have been built on the site of, or close to, an earlier castle.

The lands of Mellerstain seem to have been closely linked to those of Fans and are mentioned in the early 13th century when they seem to have been subdivided into tofts which were owned by the de Hattely or de Haitley family, Richard of Fans and his half-brother David de Graham, amongst others. Grants and donations of land at Mellerstain were made to both Durham Priory and Kelso Abbey, and some time between 1265 and 1285 William de Hattely granted the abbot of Kelso the right to pass through his lands of Meloustan (Mellerstain) and permission to build a bridge over the Blackburn above his house.

By the late 13th century the lands previously owned by Richard of Fans and David of Graham seem to have been in the possession of the Haliburton family, with Phillip de Halyburton confirming the grant of the lands of Melvestan to Kelso Abbey. Philip’s parents were Sir William Haliburton and his wife Christian de Faunes, the daughter of Richard of Fans and brother of Adam of Fans.

The lands of Mellerstain seem to have then made their way into Gordon ownership since in 1408 Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, while acting as Regent, confirmed to Alexander Seton, son of William Seton de Seton, 1st Lord Seton, and his wife Elizabeth de Gordon “the baronies of Huntly and Gordon, with the lands of Fogo, Fans and Mellerstain in Berwickshire and Strathbogie and Beldygordone in Aberdeenshire” which Elizabeth had previously resigned.

Land at Melvstanys was “warranted to Sir John Halyburton” in 1389 and in 1451 Patrick Haliburton, son of John Haliburton, 2nd Lord Haliburton of Dirleton, was granted the lands of Mellerstain by James II. In 1465 Henry Haitlie had a sasine of Mellerstain and Fans and in February 1478 married Sibil Home, sister of George Home of Wedderburn.

The Haitlies almost lost the Mellerstain estates through financial mismanagement in the second half of the 16th century, with a later Henry Haitlie dying in debt leaving behind his wife, Helen Edmonstone, and his son and heir, John Haitlie. John succeeded in 1591 and borrowed money from William Napier of Wrychtishousis against his land at Mellerstain. With Napier’s permission, and that of his cautioner Andrew Edmonstone of Edmonstone, John feued out to Robert Lumsden of Airdrie in 1602 “the lands and Mains of Mellerstanes, with the mill and the east half of Fawnis”.

John was married to Marion Lumsden and was killed in 1603 as a result of a feud with the Homes. This had begun with a failed marriage contract between Henry Haitlie and a daughter of Home of Cowdenknowes and continued with disputes over land. Relative peace broke out when Henry’s widow married William Home of Bellitaw in 1576 and lasted until January 1603 when four sons of Sir James Home of Cowdenknowes (namely Eccles, Bassendean, Bellitaw and Graden) murdered John Haitlie at the salt tron on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.

John and Marion’s son, James Haitlie, succeeded to Mellerstain and in 1619 wadset the same lands and mains of Mellerstain, the mill and the east half of Fans to Sir John Edmonstone of Edmonstone and Ednam, “redeemable on payment of 52,720 merks before Whitsunday 1621”. As far as I can tell James’ grandmother, Helen Edmonstone, was Sir John’s aunt.

When the payment wasn’t made Sir John took possession of the lands and in 1627 he was granted a charter of them by Charles I. Following Sir John’s death in 1633 he was succeeded by his heir Andrew Edmonstone of Ednam who in 1643 sold Mellerstain and Fans to George Baillie of Jerviswood. Baillie is said to have lived in a tower house on the site of the present house until his death in 1647, when the property passed to his eldest son, John. John died without issue some time before 1653 and Mellerstain passed to George’s second son, Robert.

Robert was a committed Covenanter and in 1676 he was imprisoned for rescuing his brother-in-law from what he thought was an illegal arrest. His neighbour, Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth, later 1st Earl of Marchmont, communicated with him during his incarceration by sending his 10 year old daughter, Grisell Hume, as a messenger. Robert was later involved in the Rye House Plot against Charles II in 1683, sentenced to death for treason and executed at the Grassmarket in Edinburgh in 1684. His estates were forfeited and in 1685 were granted by James VII to George Gordon, 1st Duke of Gordon.

Robert’s young son, George, and Sir Patrick fled to Holland and were later joined by the rest of Sir Patrick’s family including Grisell. George became an officer in the Prince of Orange’s Horse Guards, and returned to Britain in 1688 along with the future William II (in Scotland, William III in England). In 1690 George’s estates were restored and in 1691 he married Grisell Hume whom he had got to know during their time in Holland.

In 1725 Baillie commissioned William Adam to design a new house at Mellerstain, and it is at this point that we must address the issue of the location of the old tower house. According to Mellerstain House’s own website the foundations of the new mansion were laid out on the site of the old peel tower, however two guides that I spoke to at the house both gave the late 19th century Norman Cottage or Old Cottage (to the north-west of the house at NT 64554 39249) as the site of the old tower, with stones from it supposedly used to build the cottage which was in part adapted from an earlier structure.

Mellerstain House

To add another potential location into the mix, a written guide to the house states that in the 17th century the house “was known as Whiteside, or Whytesyde and stood in the vicinity of the present mansion.” Around 800m to the south-west of Mellerstain is Whiteside Tower, however since both Mailerstains and Whyitsyde are shown on Blaeu’s map of 1654 these would definitely seem to be two different and distinct towers.

Mellerstain House

The Merce or Shirrefdome of Berwick
Joan Blaeu, Amsterdam, 1654map image courtesy of NLS

Writing in his diary in 1659 Sir Andrew Hay of Craignethan described Mellerstain as “ane old melancholick hous that had had great buildings about it.” In 1700 George Home of Kimmerghame said of the Baillies’ old house “they have ane old tower wt but one room off a floor about 5 storey high but it looks vert ruinous”. However Lady Grisell’s household accounts record that money was spent repairing the tower in 1701, 1702 and 1703.

Work on the new house stopped following George’s death in 1738, with only the flanking wings completed. The family lived in the East wing while the West wing housed the servants’ quarters and the stables. Whether the old tower house was incorporated into one of these wings, demolished to make way for one of them, remained standing between the new wings or was left on a separate site is unclear.

By the time of George’s death Adam’s design for the gardens had been partially implemented, including the damming of the Eden Water to create a lake known as The Canal below the house to the south-east. In 1759 George Hamilton, George Baillie’s grandson and brother of the 7th Earl of Haddington, inherited the estate and assumed the surname of Baillie. George senior’s daughter, Rachel Baillie, had married Charles Hamilton, Lord Binning, son of Thomas Hamilton, 6th Earl of Haddington, in 1717.

Inspired by his Grand Tour of Europe from 1740 to 1744, George commissioned Adam’s son, Robert Adam, to finish the house and finally join the wings to one another by building the central section, an undertaking which was started in 1770 and completed in 1778. The resulting house is considered to be the only remaining complete Robert Adam building and contains lavish interiors considered masterpieces of his work.

Mellerstain House

A later George Baillie succeeded his second cousin Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington, who died without issue in 1858, and became the 10th Earl of Haddington, assuming the surname of Baillie-Hamilton the following year. Mellerstain has remained the property of the Earls of Haddington ever since.

In 1910 the Italian-influenced terraced garden to the south-east of the house was laid out by Sir Reginald Blomfield, having been commissioned by George Baillie-Hamilton, Lord Binning.

Mellerstain House

Mellerstain House

The family seat was previously Tyninghame House, but following the death of the 12th Earl of Haddington in 1986 that property was sold in 1987 and Mellerstain House became the family seat. The house is open to the public during the Spring, Summer & Autumn.

stay in a castle
  • advertisement

Alternative names for Mellerstain House

Mailerstains; Mallersten; Melarstanis; Mellastanis; Mellerstain Castle; Mellerstaine; Mellerstaing; Mellerstains; Mellerstane; Mellerstanes; Mellerstanis; Mellerstone; Mellerstones; Mellestane; Melliston; Mellorstanis; Mellostanis; Melloustanis; Melnstanes; Melocstan; Melokestan; Melokistan; Melokstan; Melostane; Melonstanes; Meloustan; Meloustanys; Melvestan; Melvstanys; Millerstaines; Mollestains; Molocstan; Myllestayn; Whiteside; Whitesyde; Whytesyde

Clans associated with Mellerstain House

Edmonstone

Gordon

Haliburton

Seton

Surnames associated with Mellerstain House

Baillie

Edmonstone

Gordon

Haliburton

Halliburton

Hallyburton

Hamilton

Seton

Where is Mellerstain House?

Mellerstain House is in the parish of Earlston and the county of Berwickshire.

Grid reference:NT 64765 39095

Lat / long:55.644115,-2.561370

Bing Maps | Google Maps | Historic maps (NLS) | OpenStreetMap | Ordnance Survey | PastMap | Streetmap | Wikimapia

OS Map for Mellerstain House

OS map 339
Kelso, Coldstream & Lower Tweed Valley
OS Explorer map 339


Directions to Mellerstain House

Enter a starting point

  • advertisement
  • advertisement

Weather at Mellerstain House

7°C
max 8°C / min 6°C
2km/h ESE
994mb
93%
65%
05:44 18:44

Broken clouds
Weather observed at Earlston at 00:15
  • var uri = 'https://impfr.tradedoubler.com/imp?type(img)g(25374828)a(1004448)' + new String (Math.random()).substring (2, 11); document.write(''); " target="_blank" rel="noopener">advertisement

References (books)

An Old Berwickshire Town
Robert Gibson
Edinburgh, 1905
Caledonia (Volume 3)
George Chalmers
Paisley, 1888
Calendar of documents relating to Scotland (Volume 4)
Joseph Bain
Edinburgh, 1881
Coldingham: Parish and Priory
Adam Thomson
Galashiels, 1908
Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Lothian and Borders
John R. Baldwin
Edinburgh, 1997
History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club (Volume 15)
Various
Alnwick, 1897
History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club (Volume 27)
Various
Edinburgh, 1932
Lairds and gentlemen (Volume 1)
Maureen Manuel Meikle
Edinburgh, 1988
Memorials of the Earls of Haddington (Volume I)
William Fraser
Edinburgh, 1889
The Baillies of Mellerstain: The Household Economy in an Eighteenth-Century Elite Household
Jasmine MacDonald
Saskatoon, 2010
The Castles of Scotland
Martin Coventry
Prestongrange, 2015
The Diary of Andrew Hay of Craignethan, 1659-1660
Alexander George Reid
Edinburgh, 1901
The Exchequer rolls of Scotland (Volume 9)
George Burnett
Edinburgh, 1886
The House of Seton (Volume 2)
Bruce Gordon Seton
Edinburgh, 1941

References (websites)

Listed Building record
Garden and Designed Landscape record
Canmore
Wikipedia
Historic Houses Association
Mellerstain House

Castles near Mellerstain House

Whiteside Tower

0.8km away

Smailholm House

2.5km away

Nenthorn

3.8km away

Greenknowe Tower

3.8km away

Gordon Castle (site of)

4.4km away

Smailholm Tower

4.5km away

Huntly Castle (site of)

4.8km away

Brotherstone (site of)

4.9km away

Morriston (site of)

5.1km away
more castles....
  • advertisement

Ancient sites near Mellerstain House

Brothers' Stones standing stone

4.2km away

Earlston standing stone

5.1km away

Littledean fort

7.9km away

Newstead (site of) souterrains

9.6km away

Cambridge standing stone

11.1km away

Eildon Hill North fort

11.2km away

Bruntaburn Mill standing stone

11.8km away

Dabshead fort and standing stone

15.7km away

Torwoodlee broch and fort

18.2km away
more ancient sites....

Pictish stones near Mellerstain House

Borthwick Mains Class I symbol stone

32.6km away

Abernethy No. 2 Class III symbol stone

51.9km away

Abernethy No. 4 Class III cross shaft

51.9km away

Princes Street Gardens Class I symbol stone

52.7km away

Court Cave Class I rock carving

65.4km away

Doo Cave Class I rock carving

65.4km away

Abercrombie 1 Class III cross slab

65.5km away

Abercrombie 2 Class III cross slab

65.5km away

Abercrombie 3 Class III cross slab

65.5km away
more Pictish stones....

Pictish sites near Mellerstain House

Whitlaw silver chain

17.3km away

Hoardweel silver chain

25.1km away

Traprain Law silver chain

36.3km away

Haddington silver chain

36.9km away

Borland silver chain

58.9km away

Todholes (possible) silver chain

61.1km away

Norrie's Law hoard

72.3km away

Whitecleugh silver chain

85.4km away

Dunnicaer fort

147.3km away
more Pictish sites....
  • advertisement
  • Sixt Car Rental

Accommodation near Mellerstain House

Huntlywood Granary
bed and breakfastEarlston
4.9km away
The Buccleuch Arms Hotel
hotelSt Boswells
10.1km away
Melrose SYHA Hostel
hostelMelrose
11.0km away
George & Abbotsford Hotel
hotel, barMelrose
11.2km away
The Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course
hotelRoxburgh
11.6km away
Lauderdale Apartment
self-catering apartmentLauder
14.4km away
Black Bull Hotel, Lauder
hotelLauder
14.4km away
The Spread Eagle Hotel
hotelJedburgh
18.4km away
Larkhall Burn luxury cottages
self-catering cottagesJedburgh
18.5km away
Castle Hotel
hotel, bar, restaurantColdstream
19.3km away

Accommodation search

(leave blank to view all)
Accommodation type
bed and breakfasts
campsites
castles
holiday parks
hostels
hotels
self-catering apartments
self-catering cottages
self-catering lodges
spas
  • Booking.com
more accommodation....

Cafés, restaurants & bars near Mellerstain House

The Terrace Café, Floors Castle
caféKelso
7.4km away
The Courtyard Restaurant, Floors Castle
café, restaurantKelso
7.7km away
George & Abbotsford Hotel
hotel, barMelrose
11.2km away
Hirsel Cottage Tea Room
caféColdstream
18.0km away
Castle Hotel
hotel, bar, restaurantColdstream
19.3km away
Baxters Selkirk
caféSelkirk
19.7km away
Selkirk Deli
caféSelkirk
20.6km away
Best Western Philipburn Country House Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barSelkirk
21.4km away
Allanton Inn
hotel, bar, restaurantDuns
26.6km away
Johnstons of Elgin Eastmill Café
caféHawick
27.5km away
more food.... / more drink....

Related pages

Dirleton Castle in East Lothian
Dirleton Castle in East Lothian
Garden of Cosmic Speculation plus castles
Garden of Cosmic Speculation plus castles
Inveraray Castle and standing stone
Inveraray Castle and standing stone
A doocot, a castle and a beach in East Lothian
A doocot, a castle and a beach in East Lothian
A pair of castles on the River Tweed
A pair of castles on the River Tweed
Dunbar harbour and castle
Dunbar harbour and castle
Published on the 12th of June 2011 at 11:00 pm. Updated on the 28th of February 2021 at 3:25 pm.

Leave a comment

back to the top of the page

Connect with us

Like us on Facebook

Receive our newsletter

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by Stravaig_Aboot
  • Avanti travel insurance

Quick links

Stay in a Scottish castle
Edinburgh Festival accommodation
Hotels in Scotland
Car hire in Scotland
Places to eat and drink in Scotland
Castles in Scotland
Trace your Scottish ancestors
Scottish clans
Standing stones in Scotland
The Picts
Pictish symbol stones
Pictish placenames
Scottish bands and musicians
Scottish films
Scottish TV shows
West Highland Way

About

Andy Sweet above Fast Castle

Stravaiging around Scotland is written, photographed and researched by Andy Sweet.
read more....

Cookies

To make this site work properly we use cookies to store information on your computer. Click here to read more.
© 2003 - 2023 Andy Sweet / Stravaiging around Scotland. Powered by WordPress. Hosted by Tsohost.