Douglas Castle Douglas Castle was a stronghold of the Douglas family from medieval times to the 20th century . The first castle , erected in the 13th century , was destroyed and replaced several times until the 18th century when a large mansion house was built in its place . This too was demolished in 1938 , and today only a single corner tower of the 17th - century castle remains . The castle was the former family seat of the Prime Minister , Alec Douglas - Home . The castle was located around north - east of the village of Douglas , South Lanarkshire , in south - west Scotland . The remains are protected as a category C listed building . History . The Douglas family built the first Douglas Castle , which was constructed of either wood or stone , sometime before 1288 . In 1307 , during the Wars of Scottish Independence the castle was captured and garrisoned by the English under Lord Clifford . Sir James Douglas , companion of Robert the Bruce successfully recaptured his family seat by storming the castle on Palm Sunday , while the garrison were at chapel . he had the garrison killed and thrown into a cellar , before the structure was burned . The event has become known as " Douglas ' larder " . Robert the Bruce rewarded the loyalty of the Douglases , and Sir James ' heirs were created Earls of Douglas . Douglas Castle was rebuilt as one of their strongholds , but by the 15th century , the power of the " Black " Douglases had come to threaten the Stewart monarchy . In 1455 James II led an expedition against the rebellious 9th Earl , defeating his forces at the battle of Arkinholm . Douglas Castle was sacked and the family ' s lands and titles forfeited . The " Red " Douglases , Earls of Angus , had sided with the king against the senior branch of their family , and it was they who gained the Douglas lands in Lanarkshire . It is likely that the castle was rebuilt soon after 1455 . Regent Morton came to Douglasdale in June 1574 to survey the house of the Earl of Angus with a view to repairing it and living there . In 1703 , Archibald Douglas , 3rd Marquess of Douglas was created Duke of Douglas , with his principal seat at Douglas Castle . The castle was again rebuilt around this time , as a tower house and an enclosed courtyard with a corner tower . This castle was destroyed by fire in 1755 , with the exception of the corner tower . From 1757 , the Duke began construction of an enormous castellated mansion at Douglas . The architects of this , the final Douglas Castle , were the Adam Brothers ( James Adam , John Adam , and Robert Adam ) . Had it been completed the castle would have been the largest in Scotland . As it was the Duke of Douglas died in 1761 , and only around half of the original design was ever completed . The five storey building had round towers to the front and square towers to the rear facade , and stood in a very extensive park spanning the valley of the Douglas Water . The Duke ' s estate became the subject of a famous and bitter legal dispute , known as the ' Douglas Cause ' , between his nephew Archibald James Edward Douglas and the Duke of Hamilton . Douglas was eventually victorious and ennobled as Baron Douglas in 1790 , and the castle descended through his daughter , and grand - daughter , to the Earls of Home . In the 1930s Charles Douglas - Home , 13th Earl of Home allowed the mining of coal in the park adjacent to the castle , in an attempt to relieve desperate levels of local unemployment . Sadly , the mining caused dangerous subsidence to the castle and it had to be demolished in 1938 . The castle today . Today , only a ruined corner tower of the penultimate castle remains , built in the late 17th century . Three storeys and 9m in height , the tower once stood at the corner of an enclosure , estimated at around 40m across . The tower stands on a prominent rise in the valley , to the south of the river , and was retained as a garden folly when the later mansion was built . Below is a small cellar block with glazed tiles on the interior walls . Nothing visible remains of the mansion . Sir Walter Scott used the location and early history of Castle Douglas as the inspiration for his novel " Castle Dangerous " . The castle is still sometimes referred to by this alternative name .