page_title: Clan Kerr
section_title: Castles
hierarchical_section_title: Clan Kerr / Castles
caption_attribution_description: English: Ferniehirst Castle
context_page_description: Clan Kerr is a Scottish clan whose origins lie in the Scottish Borders. During the Middle Ages, it was one of the prominent border reiver clans along the present-day Anglo-Scottish border and played an important role in the history of the Border country of Scotland.
context_section_description: Castles that have been owned by the Clan Kerr include among others:
   
  Ferniehirst Castle is about a mile south of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders. It is now an extended and altered tower house that incorporates work from the sixteenth century. The castle was first built in 1470 and the Kerr of Ferniehirst branch of the clan were made Wardens of the Middle Marches in 1502. The original entrance leads to a staircase known as the 'Left-Handed Staircase' based on a story that Sir Andrew Kerr having returned from the Battle of Flodden in 1513, and who was left handed, had his followers trained to use their weapons with their left hands. The castle was sacked in 1523 by the English, but was recaptured in 1549 with French help, and the leader of the English garrison beheaded. In 1570, the castle was damaged in a raid when Sir Thomas Kerr of Ferniehirst, protector of Mary, Queen of Scots, hoped to have her released from imprisonment. In 1593, James VI of Scotland attacked the castle because of the help that the Kerrs had given to Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, whom the king had accused of witchcraft and treason. Between 1934 and 1984, the castle was leased by the Scottish Youth Hostel Association, apart from during World War II when it was used as an army billet. The Kerr Marquises of Lothian and Earls of Ancrum still own Ferniehirst Castle although they live in London. The castle is said to be haunted by a Green Lady and is open to the public in July.
  Newbattle Abbey or Newbattle Castle is a mile south-west of Dalkeith in Midlothian. After the Protestant Reformation the property was given to the Kerrs of Ferniehirst and they were made Lords of Newbattle in 1591, and Earls of Lothian in 1606. The feud between the Kerrs of Ferniehirst and the Kerrs of Cessford was ended in 1631, when William Kerr of Ferniehirst married Ann Kerr of Cessford and the family were made Marqueses of Lothian in 1701. Many of the Newbattle buildings were demolished but some were incorporated into a fortified dwelling for the family. It was remodeled down the centuries into a large mansion. The eleventh Marquis of Lothian gave the building to the nation and it is now an adult education college. The castle is said to be haunted with stories of a Grey Lady, said to be the spirit of a girl who was killed when she fell in love with a monk, as well as stories of spectral monks haunting the grounds.
  Cessford Castle, a massive L-plan castle and is now a ruin. The castle dates from the fifteenth century or earlier. It was surrounded by a curtain wall with a second wall and ditch beyond this. The castle was held by the Kerrs of Cessford who became rivals of the Kerrs of Ferniehirst. Sir Andrew Kerr of Cessford fought and survived the Battle of Flodden in 1513, but Cessford Castle was damaged by the English in 1519. It was besieged by the English four years later who reckoned it the third strongest fortress in Scotland. The castle was torched in 1543 and sacked by the English a year later. Sir Walter Kerr of Cessford was banished to France for being involved in the murder of Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch in 1552. The Kerrs of Cessford were made Earls in 1616 and then Dukes of Roxburghe in 1704. In about 1650, Cessford Castle was abandoned and the materials were used to build Floors Castle.
  Floors Castle is a massive castellated mansion that dates from 1721. It was designed by William Adam, but was remodeled by William Henry Playfair in the nineteenth century.
caption: Ferniehirst Castle, seat of the Kerrs of Ferniehirst, chiefs of Clan Kerr.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:07:24 22:54:24", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "228", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1054", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6052", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "14", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:07:11 14:32:47", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:07:11 14:32:47", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "261023/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "249519/32768", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "2/3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "26", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "640", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "427", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "928", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "3888000/877", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "432000/97", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}