Tinnis Castle

About Tinnis Castle

Perched atop a steep-sloped hill at Drumelzier is Tinnis Castle, a fascinating multi-period site with links to Arthurian legends. The ruins of a medieval castle top the ramparts of the Iron Age hillfort, making for a dramatic reveal at the summit. The hillfort is of a type called ‘nucleated’, with a central fortified area at the top and secondary enclosures surrounding it on lower-lying plateaus.

Local lore tells how Merlin, the renowned scholar and wizard, met his prophesied ‘triple death’ of bludgeoning, piercing, and drowning along the burn flowing past Tinnis Castle to the Tweed. Meldred, lord of the hillfort, became suspicious of Merlin’s motivations in his court and ordered his death.

While this may sound like mere legend, a geophysical survey in 2022 revealed a feature resembling a grave near the very spot still known today as ‘Merlin’s Grave’. Tinnis Castle was occupied in the late 6th and 7th centuries AD, precisely when the tale of Merlin was set in medieval manuscripts.

Mesolithic flint blades found at Tinnis Castle show that this place was used by some of the earliest settlers of the Borders. The site was occupied until the 16th century, when the castle built by the Tweedies of Drumelzier fell into ruin after several centuries of defending against English cross-border raids.

This means that the hill upon which Tinnis Castle stands witnessed over 7,000 years of human activity, an extraordinary legacy making it one of the oldest historic sites with still-upstanding features in the south of Scotland.

NB: Postcode is for approximate location only. For accuracy use what3words: insiders.enhancement.nurtures or National Grid Reference: NT 14155 34439