Qualla: Floors Castle

Floors Castle: Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Richard Slessor, CC BY-SA 2.0. Despite the name, there is nothing defensive about Floors Castle. The walls cannot keep anything out and were not built to try. What William Adam designed for the 1st Duke of Roxburghe in the 1720s was a country house in the prevailing style of the moment, a main block with two symmetrical service wings, set on a terrace above the Tweed and looking south toward the Cheviot Hills. What William Playfair added a century later, in the 1830s, was theatre: turrets, battlements, water-spouts, and pinnacles in a romantic version of what a castle was supposed to look like. The result, by accident or careful staging, became the largest inhabited castle in Scotland. The Innes-Ker family still live in it. Across the river, on the far bank of the Tweed, lie the ruins of an actual castle, Roxburgh, where King James II of Scotland was killed in 1460 when one of his own bombards exploded.

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Image: Richard Slessor | CC BY-SA 2.0

Floors Castle: The Name and the Site

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. The Ker family, who became the Earls and later Dukes of Roxburghe, have held lands in Roxburghshire since the twelfth century. Their origins are not entirely certain, though they likely came over with the Normans. Since Sir James Innes became the 5th Duke in 1812, the family has ...

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

Floors Castle: William Adam Builds, William Playfair Refurbishes

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Neil Theasby, CC BY-SA 2.0. John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe, had played a quiet but important role in securing the Union of England and Scotland in 1707. His reward was a dukedom in 1707, and his ambition was a country house worthy of it. He commissioned William Adam, the Scottish architect whose son Robert...

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Image: Neil Theasby | CC BY-SA 2.0

Floors Castle: A Royal Death Across the River

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mihael Grmek, CC BY-SA 3.0. Floors stands almost directly opposite the site of Roxburgh Castle, today little more than a green mound. Roxburgh was, in the twelfth century, one of the most important strongholds in Scotland and a royal residence. In 1460, James II of Scotland besieged it during a campaign to ...

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Image: Mihael Grmek | CC BY-SA 3.0

Floors Castle: Open to the Public

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hogweard, Public domain. Floors Castle is now a Category A listed building, the highest tier of protection in Scottish heritage law. The Innes-Ker family still occupy the house, with the 10th Duke of Roxburghe, Charles Innes-Ker, succeeding his father Guy in 2019. The castle is open to the public seasona...

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Image: Hogweard | Public domain