Hoddom Castle Photo ©
Mike and Kirsty Grundy 29 May 2003
Hoddom Castle Photo ©
Mike and Kirsty Grundy 29 May 2003
Hoddom Castle is a large tower house in Dumfries and Galloway, south Scotland.
It is located by the River Annan, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south-west of Ecclefechan
and the same distance north-west of Brydekirk in the parish of Cummertrees.
The castle is protected as a category A listed building.
The lands of Hoddom or Hoddam belonged to the Herries family, allies of the
Bruce family who were Lords of Annandale from 1124. It passed to the Carruthers
family, and then to the Maxwells. At the core of the castle is an L-plan tower
house, built in the 16th century. It was probably built for Sir John Maxwell,
who acquired Hoddom in the mid 16th-century when he married the heiress Agnes,
Lady Herries. Maxwell also built Repentance Tower, on the hill to the south,
as a watchtower for the castle.
In the aftermath of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, the Regent Moray besieged
Hoddom, which capitulated after only one day. It was briefly the base of the
Warden of the Scottish West March, but was recaptured in 1569 by supporters
of Queen Mary. The following year it was attacked by the English under Lord
Scroop, who blew up the tower.
This tower was repaired and expanded in the 17th century to form a courtyard
castle. It was acquired by Sir Richard Murray from the 6th Lord Herries, and
then became the property of the Earl of Southesk in 1653. In 1690 it passed
to the Sharpe family. In around 1826, General Matthew Sharpe of Hoddom commissioned
William Burn to design modern extensions to the south and west of the castle.
Hoddom was purchased in 1877 by the Brook family of Meltham, Huddersfield, who
later bought nearby Kinmount House. Further extensions were built in a neo-Jacobean
style to the north and west, some at least to designs by architects Wardrop
and Anderson.
The house was requisitioned by the military during the Second World War, and
was not reoccupied afterwards. In the 1970s William Burn's extensions were largely
demolished. The castle now stands in the grounds of a caravan park, and the
remaining 19th-century additions are used as offices. The tower house is derelict,
and has been included on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. It is
also included on Historic Scotland's Castle Conservation Register, which aims
to identify buildings which could be successfully restored. In March 2009 planning
permission was granted for a redevelopment of the castle, together with the
building of a hotel, chalets, and a golf course.
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