Historic castle in Scottish Borders on sale for £3 million – and comes with its own private chapel and railway

A historic 17-bedroom castle in the Scottish Borders has gone on the market for more than £3 million – and it comes with its own private chapel and railway.

Widely regarded as one of Scotland’s finest baronial-style buildings, Ayton Castle, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, is one of only two baronial structures by early 19th-century architect James Gillespie Graham.

The castle was built around a medieval tower house and is set within more than 160 acres of land.

It has interior schemes by Scotland’s then leading houses decorators, Bonnar & Carfrae, who made such an impact on author Mark Twain that in 1873 he bought the dining room fireplace mantel which is now housed in the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. 

At the front of the castle are formal grounds and the narrow gauge railway which comes with its own platform, ticket office, engine stock shed and joiner’s shop.

The three state rooms of the castle feature 17th-century Scottish-style plasterwork. At one end lies the family wing, with service areas and a courtyard on the other. 

Beyond the formal rooms is a private chapel with a kitchenette and dining space. The main kitchen, with a butler’s pantry, is located near the dining room and the rear service entrance.

The castle features a turnpike staircase which leads from the gallery to the first floor, with additional stairs to upper levels. The first floor offers 12 bedrooms and six bathrooms, with four more bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor.

The grounds of the castle also feature a stable block, which the current owners have been using to run a livery business. There is stabling for approximately nine horses, various loose boxes, several stores, a staff room, a tack room, workshop and a double garage.

There is an all-weather manège, which is actively used for the training of horses in riding and dressage skills with a further four loose boxes behind a barn which stores hay and straw.

Ayton Castle is on the market through estate agents GSC Grays, for £3.25m.

‘This is an iconic Scottish Castle with land, extensive secondary accommodation and limitless potential,’ James Denne, property consultant at GSC Grays, said.

‘Ayton Castle is set in 160.56 acres of wonderful Scottish Borders country and is a fabulous example of baronial-style architecture and features a beehive type16th century dovecot among garden terraces, parkland and attractive woodland, which together make an outstanding scenic contribution to the local landscape.’

Since 2014, the current owners have undertaken significant improvements to the castle, including partial re-wiring, re-plumbing and the redecoration of several of the principal rooms.

They have also created a formal garden to the southern part of the property and installed a 10 1/4-inch gauge 600m railway which winds through part of the grounds.

Read more Homes & Garden stories here.

Subscribe to read the latest issue of Scottish Field.