Scotland · Still standing
Oxenfoord Castle
Oxenfoord Castle is an 18th‑/19th‑century Scottish country house in Midlothian, rebuilt from an earlier tower house and remodelled in the early Victorian period. It sits above the Tyne Water near Pathhead and remains a private residence and event venue, protected as a category A listed building.
Its prime
1842
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1842
What Oxenfoord Castle looked like in its prime.
A long, rectilinear ashlar sandstone house with crenellated parapets and several short cylindrical drum towers with battlements rising above the roofline; a central recessed section with low parapet and two small animal sculptures on the crest; a prominent round‑arched main entrance with steps and a latticed inner grille; a sequence of tall, slender round‑headed sash windows and a triple‑arched bay at the left; set above a rolling wooded riverside site with a gravel forecourt to the front.
Its story
The story of Oxenfoord Castle.
The lands of Oxenfoord belonged to the Riddel family in the 12th century, and by the 16th century to the MacGills, who built the original tower house. James MacGill was elevated to the peerage as Viscount of Oxfuird in 1651, and the estate passed through the family until it came to Thomas Hamilton of Fala, whose daughter and heiress Elizabeth married Sir John Dalrymple, 4th Baronet, in 1760.
The Dalrymples inherited in 1779, and Sir John, lawyer, scientist, historian and friend of Robert Adam, commissioned the architect to rebuild the tower house in 1780, absorbing the L-plan tower into the new building much as Adam did at Culzean. From 1840 Oxenfoord was the seat of the Earls of Stair, though the 10th Earl moved his principal home to Lochinch Castle in Galloway after inheriting it in 1864.
From 1931 to 1993 the house held Oxenfoord Castle School, founded by Lady Marjorie Dalrymple, sister of the 11th Earl of Stair. Since 1993 it has reverted to private use by the Dalrymple family and hosts weddings, private parties and corporate events; it is protected as a category A listed building.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1842.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Oxenfoord Castle, including 1 interior: entrance threshold and inner doorway. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Oxenfoord Castle.
The families that held Oxenfoord Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
MacGill
Owners from the 16th century, when they built the original tower house; James MacGill was created Viscount of Oxfuird in 1651, and the estate passed through the family.
Dalrymple
Seat of the Dalrymples since Sir John Dalrymple, 4th Baronet, inherited in 1779; the seat of the Earls of Stair from 1840, and still in family hands.
Nearby
