Thirlestane Castle
Thirlestane Castle at Lauder in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders, is one of Scotland's oldest and most magnificent inhabited castles, a seventeenth-century mansion incorporating a medieval tower that has been the seat of the Maitland family, Earls of Lauderdale, for centuries. The castle was substantially rebuilt in the 1670s for the Duke of Lauderdale, Charles II's Secretary of State for Scotland and one of the most powerful figures in Restoration Scotland, creating an interior of exceptional opulence including the most elaborate Restoration plasterwork ceilings in Scotland. The castle remains in the ownership of the Maitland family and is open to visitors with guided tours of the state rooms and an exhibition of toys and games in the basement. The surrounding Lauder landscape in the Gala Water valley provides an attractive setting for one of the finest and most historically significant inhabited castles in Scotland.