Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre

16th century bastle house which has been enlarged and converted into use as a local museum. In the garden stands the base of an early Christian cross.

This building probably began life as a 16th century bastle house. In its original form it consisted of a vaulted basement with a hall above and attic storey. The upper storeys were reached by an external wooden stair but this was replaced in the 17th century when an eastern range was added with a spiral stair in its lowest storey and a smaller stair turret above. Mary leased a house from Lady Ferniehirst for forty pounds in 1566 and visited her lover Bothwell at Hermitage while she was in residence. Although tradition says that this was the building now known as Mary, Queen of Scots House, there were at least six towers in Jedburgh in the 16th century, and the coat of arms over the doorway suggests that this tower belonged to the Wigmer family. Even so, the stairs all turn to the left, which according to local tradition, is a characteristic of buildings owned by the Kerr family. Among the artefacts on view is a lock of Mary's hair, a dagger from the battlefield of Carberry Hill (Midlothian) and a 16th century French cannon from Ferniehirst Castle. Outside the Visitor Centre stands a mutilated 9th century cross base. Upon this, figures of fantastic beasts can still be traced and would have been used by early Christian missionaries to illustrate their sermons.

Dent, J & McDonald R, 2000. Warfare and Fortifications in the Borders.