A Scotsman's home could be his castle now ruin near Hawick is up for sale

Cavers Castle, once the seat of Clan Douglas, the oldest and best known of the Borders clans, was once a 64-room castle at the centre of 100,000 acres of land.

The majority of that land has been sold off over the years by the Palmer-Douglas family, and now the building is a ruin set in just 10 acres of grounds.

And all that remains of the original castle are the bricks and mortar of its south-easterly wing.

Despite that ruinous state, it’s hoped that it will attract interest across the world, particularly in the US, home to an active Douglas clan association.

The castle was constructed around 1200 and first inhabited by the Balliols.

Clan Douglas, instrumental in banishing the Balliols from Scotland, was granted the lands by King David II of Scotland in 1352.

Archibald Douglas, the third Earl of Douglas, was responsible for the construction of Cavers Tower, a traditional fort, on the site of the original castle after he succeeded to the earldom following the death of James Douglas at the Battle of Otterburn in Northumberland in 1388.

Cavers House was inhabited by a branch of the Douglas family until the 20th descendant, James Douglas, died in 1878 leaving no male heir.

The property passed to his niece Mary Malcolm, and she married Edward Palmer in 1879.

The property was substantially remodelled as Cavers House between 1881 and 1887.

It eventually fell into disuse, however, and was made available to the British Army for demolition as any explosives exercise in 1953.

The army was partially successfully in destroying the Victorian section of the house but made little impact on the 11ft-thick walls of the older medieval section.

The property is up for sale via the estate agent RightMove.

A spokesman for the company said: “Once a building of note in the Scottish Borders, all that remains of the castle are the bricks and mortar of the five-storey, south-easterly wing.

“Some of the walls are up to 11ft in thickness, and detail around fireplaces and cornicing still remain.

“Existing plans are available proposing the restoration of the castle to a single-dwelling family home.

“The plans are to create a family home to a very high specification, with space, design and amenities to meet today’s living requirements.

“No formal application has been submitted, but the local planning department has indicated it would look favourably on the restoration of the castle and would consider the existing or new design plans.”