Fatlips Castle

In the 16th century the Turnbulls of Barnhills, a family already established at nearby Barnhills Tower and farm, built the peel tower at the top of Minto Crags to command the ground above the River Teviot. As Border reivers, raiders who lived by cross-border cattle theft and feud, they needed a defensible lookout as much as a home, and the crag gave them both height and a clear view of the valley below.

In 1545, during the conflict known as the War of the Rough Wooing, the Earl of Hertford's forces burned the site, recorded at the time under the name Mantoncrake or Mynto Crag. The campaign was part of a wider English attempt to force a marriage alliance on the Scottish crown through devastation of Border strongholds, and the tower's exposed position on the crag made it a target.

In 1705 the castle was acquired by Sir Gilbert Elliot, bringing it into a family whose descendants went on to become the Earls of Minto. Under the Elliots the tower's role shifted from a working reivers' stronghold to a property held within a larger landed estate, setting the pattern for its later use as a country retreat rather than a defensive outpost.

The tower was extensively restored in 1857, a rebuilding that reflected the wider Victorian enthusiasm for repairing and reoccupying old Border strongholds rather than leaving them as ruins. This restoration is the point at which much of the structure visible today took shape, layered over the surviving 16th-century core.

Between 1897 and 1898 the architect Sir Robert Lorimer renovated the interior, converting the tower into a shooting lodge and private museum. Lorimer was among the leading Scottish architects of his generation working on the reinvention of historic houses, and his scheme gave Fatlips a genteel domestic purpose that lasted well into the 20th century, with the building remaining in active use until the 1960s.

On 18 November 2011 a major restoration of the building was announced, aimed at arresting the decline the tower had suffered since falling out of regular use. By mid-2013 the cap-house, parapet and roof had been successfully renovated, securing the structure for the near future and returning it to a stable condition after decades without a resident use.