Allanton

About Allanton

The small village on Allanton is situated in the Scottish Borders, six miles west of the border with Northumberland. It was once part of the Blackadder’s estate; belonging to the large clan in this area; the Blackadder clan. The village still has many buildings which were used on this estate such as the estates bake house and smiddy house.

Bridges in the area stretch over both the Blackadder waters and the Whiteadder waters which were engineered by Robert Stevenson and Sons and date back to the mid-19th century. The actual village today is contained mostly within a single street. The terraced houses that stand there were built in the late 18th century. As time went on the village was known for having three tailors shop, unusually high for such a small village. The last of these closed in the 1960s. The current village hall was the former schoolhouse and nearby there is a local inn/pub; The Allanton Inn.

The main Blackadder house on the estate also had a Dower House; a house on large estates which was traditionally built to house widowers of the main house owners if they died. The Dower house on the estate, Allanbank House, is believed to be haunted by Pearlin Jean. The story goes that it is haunted by a suspected French nun who met the first baronet of Allanbank in Paris who tried to stop him returning to Scotland but was killed when the baronet’s coach carriage ran over her.

The estate and main houses no longer remain as during the First World War it was used to accommodate troops who used much of the interior as firewood. It was never renovated and was demolished around 1925.