Queen Mary's House

The house was built in the sixteenth century in the town of Jedburgh near the Jed Water. The original entrance to the house is thought to be from Canongate Bridge through what is not the garden. The house was recorded in a watercolour by the astronomer and artist Nathaniel Everett Green. In 1777 the house was the home of Dr Lindsay and his wife Jean. Ten years later their daughters were guides for Robert Burns when he visited Jedburgh. Dr Lindsay's grandson, Lieutenant General Robert Armstrong inherited the house in about 1819. He had entered the Russian army and became in time the head of the Saint Petersburg Mint. Robert allowed his aunts to occupy the house until 1869 when Elizabeth…

It is a three-storey stone-built building with a four-storey tower. The roof was originally thatched and it was later covered with tiles. Today the roofs are finished with grey slate. The building is open to the public and there is no charge. Visitors can tour the inside via a stone spiral staircase. In each of the rooms are artefacts and boards explaining the history of the building and the background to Queen Mary's life and eventual execution. The extensive grounds include pear trees that were planted in the 21st century. The trees are of the variety that were grown in the area when the farming of pears was a major occupation in the town.