Black and white photograph, 1928
RCAHMS: Peyton Collection
Neidpath Castle was acquired by the Hays of Yester who built the massive L-shaped tower house towards the end of the fourteenth century. It seems to have been unaltered until the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, when the two upper floors were remodelled.
Oliver Cromwell attacked the castle in 1650. The defence was so fierce that the only castle south of the Forth to hold out longer was the much larger Borthwick Castle. The old castle was not designed to face ‘modern’ cannon and required restoration, during which an avenue of yews was planted, half of which survive to this day. There are also traces of a terraced garden layout, and old enclosure walls on the opposite side of the Tweed in an area reputed to be the site of a deer park.