Military Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Castle Venlaw Hotel
Venlaw01
Venlaw01
Castle Venlaw Hotel
General information
Location Edinburgh Road
Peebles, Scotland
EH45 8QG
Opening 1949
Other information
Number of rooms 12
Number of suites 2
Number of restaurants 1
Website
www.venlaw.co.uk

Venlaw Castle, also known as Smithfield Castle, lies north of Peebles on the Edinburgh Road in the Borders of Scotland. Since 1949 it has operated as a hotel.

History[]

Venlaw Castle[]

The site was originally a 14th-century fortification, founded by the Hay family. The medieval fortress was destroyed in the 18th and 19th centuries and reconstructed as a house. The original house was built on the site of the old Smithfield Castle in 1782, and is a baronial mansion with extensive grounds. It was enlarged in 1854. It is an excellent example of the Scottish Baronial style, and is set in 4 acres (1.6 ha) of gardens.

Venlaw02

Stone above the door records rebuilding in 1782 by Alexander Stevenson

Venlaw Castle Hotel[]

In 1948 new owners Alexander Cumming and his wife, Jean Brownlee intended to convert the property to a hotel but were unable to pay "development tax", levied on people turning a private house into a business. Cumming successfully fought to have the tax abolished, and his success is recorded in Hansard. Venlaw Castle Hotel opened in 1949 and remained in the family until 1997, when it was renamed Castle Venlaw Hotel. A refurbishment in 1999 means the hotel is now operated all year round. The hotel was bought by its current owners, PAG Hotels Ltd., in 2007. PAG Hotels Ltd went into administration in July 2010. The Hotel is presently under managing agents Convivial Management Services Limited, and is currently for sale.

See also[]

  • Castles in Scotland
  • Clan Tweedie
  • List of places in the Scottish Borders
  • List of places in Scotland

External links[]

Coordinates: 55°39′32″N 3°11′21″W / 55.65889°N 3.18917°W / 55.65889; -3.18917

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Venlaw and the edit history here.
Advertisement