The ancestral home of Scotland’s most famous literary son, Sir Walter Scott, Abbotsford is a popular tourist attraction in the Scottish borders. Abbotsford grew from humble beginnings into a grand, romantic mansion, an icon of 19th century Scottish Baronial architecture. Once Sir Walter Scott’s most cherished possession, his ‘conundrum castle’, Abbotsford is now a museum and shrine to the great writer’s life and work.

Key Facts about Abbotsford

Abbotsford is located near Galashiels in the town Melrose on the south bank of the River Tweed, Scotland.

A category A listed building, Abbotsford belonged to Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott and was built in stages throughout the early 19 th

Abbotsford remained in the Scott family until 2004 and is now a popular historic country house and visitor attraction, ran by a charitable trust.

History of the House

At first Abbotsford was nothing more than a farmhouse and a modest estate of 100 acres known locally as Clarty Hole, a play on its official title of Cartleyhole. Sir Walter Scott purchased the scenic spot in 1811 to serve as his countryside home outside of Edinburgh. Initially, Scott built a small villa and named it Abbotsford after the abbots of Melrose Abbey who used to cross the river Tweed via a nearby ford. In his first few years at Abbotsford, Scott was preoccupied with acquiring more land and managed to increase his estate from 110 acres to 1400.

Soon though, Scott’s literary career, and the fame and fortune that came with it, gave him the funds to transform his humble farmhouse into a country mansion where he could live, work and entertain in style. Scott never seemed to harbor dreams of building a grand mansion, rather the Abbotsford we see today grew in gradual stages with the input of Scott’s many friends, including some of Scotland’s finest architects, craftsmen and designers.

At first, Scott expanded his farmhouse with the help of architect William Atkinson and designer David Ramsay Hay, adding a study, a dining room, an armory and a conservatory, with bedrooms and attic rooms on the floor above. Both architect and designer were to go on to magnificent things as Atkinson was later responsible for the remodeling of Chequers and Ramsay Hay redecorated the Palace of Holyroodhouse for Queen Victoria.

This arrangement served the Scott family well for a few years, but by 1920 Scott was making more money than ever and began planning extensive building works with Atkinson. In 1822, the existing Abbotsford House was torn down to make way for the building of a new, large, rectangular house. Scott hired a local stonemason Smiths of Darnick to be the principal builder of the new Abbotsford and insisted that he integrated carved stones and wooden paneling from ruined abbeys and castles around Scotland to give it a strong link with the past. In the great entrance hall at Abbotsford there is a stone fireplace carved by Smiths of Darnick and inspired by Scott’s poem, The Lay of the Last Minstrel. The ceiling and walls in this room are dominated by suits of armor, carved oak paneling salvaged from Dunfermline Abbey and the coats of arms and shields of Scott’s ancestors.

Anyone familiar with Scott’s work will be thrilled to take a look inside his study. The last room to be completed in Abbotsford, it is in this atmospheric, book-lined room that Scott penned his later novels including the nine-volume biography The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte. The drawing room at Abbotsford features beautiful Chinese hand-painted wallpaper, a gift from a relative of Scott’s who worked for the East India Company, as well as the latest in domestic engineering; Abbotsford was one of the first homes in Scotland to be gas lit and had air-bells fitted for summoning servants. Although a lover of technology, Scott was an antiquarian at heart and housed a large collection of arms, including his own military and sport weapons, in his purpose-built armory.

Scott’s library at Abbotsford is one of Scotland’s great treasures. Containing books and manuscripts that are completely unique, including several incunables (books written before 1,500) and almost 5,000 chapbooks, Abbotsford Library is the most impressive room in the house. The shelves at Abbotsford Library are a testament to the intellect and curiosity of the man who filled them, with sections devoted to history, geography, folklore, practical reference and versions of Scott’s own works in multiple languages.

Other rooms at Abbotsford that are open to visitors include the exhibition room, used as a breakfasting parlor, the dining room in which Scott died following a series of strokes, and the unique religious corridor and Catholic chapel. Already a popular place of literary pilgrimage, just 20 years after Scott’s death, Abbotsford was remodeled in the 1850s by Scott’s granddaughter Charlotte. Charlotte married James Robert Hope and the newlyweds created a dedicated tourist route through the most historic parts of the house in an attempt to separate their own private living space from Sir Walter Scott’s many curious fans.

The last of the Scott clan to live in the house, Dame Jean Maxwell-Scott and her sister Patricia turned Abbotsford into one of Scotland’s best tourist attractions during the years they looked after it and on Dame Maxwell-Scott’s death in 2004 passed it on to an independent charitable trust.

What Makes Abbotsford Famous?

Abbotsford House is one of the most famous houses in the world, particularly for lovers of literature. A monument to the life and work of the man who created it, the house at Abbotsford was the bricks and mortar love of Sir Walter Scott’s life. Full of Scott’s own antiquarian collections, Abbotsford is a museum, shrine and iconic example of 19th century Scottish Baronial style.

Abbotsford in TV and Film

A History of Scotland (2008 TV series)

Antiques Roadshow (1979 TV Series)

Further Research

Anonymous (2015) Abbotsford: Beautiful Britain Series

Sheila Scott (2014) Abbotsford: building by numbers

N. Wilson (2002) A Life of Walter Scott: The Laird of Abbotsford

Mary Scott and William Gibb (1983) Abbotsford; the personal relics and antiquarian treasures of Sir Walter Scott

Visitor Information

Abbotsford’s visitor center, restaurant, and estate paths are open to the public seven days a week, all year round. Abbotsford House and Gardens are also open all year round, but opening hours differ depending on the season. Entry fees apply so visit the website for more information on opening times and prices, http://www.scottsabbotsford.com/visit/.

To get to Abbotsford from Edinburgh, take a bus to Carlisle via Galashiels. At Galashiels Bus Station, transfer to a local bus for Galafoot Bridge, 10 minutes walking distance via a public footpath to Abbotsford.