Billie Castle

The property was owned by the Dunbars. Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus sheltered here in 1528 whilst his castle of Tantallon was being unsuccessfully besieged by James V of Scotland, The Renton family were granted the castle in 1540, James VI of Scotland alarmed the English garrison at Berwick-upon-Tweed by coming to hunt near Berwick-upon-Tweed in March 1596, staying a night the house of the laird of 'Beelleys' (Billie Castle), six miles from Berwick, and then returning to Dunglass. John Carey, 3rd Baron Hunsdon noted that the laird and lady of Billie were not in residence. More substantial remains were visible up to the 19th century.

Billie Castle appears to have been a strong quadrangular keep, about 50 ft by 40 ft, with walls over 7 ft thick. An outer wall surrounded the keep. It occupied a platform about 41 by that was protected by a single ditch 8 m wide and 1.5 m deep on three sides. On the south side, there were double ditches that may have been flooded by means of earthen dams at both ends of a natural gully just south of the enclosure. It is thought that the building had three storeys, with the upper ones being reached by a narrow stone stair in the north west angle. There were two rounded towers at the southernmost angles of the keep. Within the quadrangle are remnants of a tower and the gatehouse. Large,…