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Easter weekend (4 days), May to end of Sept (Fri - Mon)
Onsite parking.
Special guided tours outside normal visiting hours.
House 12.30pm - 5pm. Last admission 4.15pm.
July/August.
Roses and borders
House & Gardens, Adult £8.50, Child £4; Accompanied children under 5yrs. free Gardens only £5, Child £2.50. Under 5 years Free
Limited access for the disabled.
Thatched Tea Cottage with its little parterre garden. Haddington's family dog graveyard, sitting in the cool secret places and arbours among the scented flowers.
Crosskeys, Kelso Burts, Melrose Roxburgh Hotel, Heiton
Crosskeys, Kelso Burts, Melrose Roxburgh Hotel, Heiton
The Old Thistle, Westruther
Kelso - 6 miles Scott's View Thirlestane Castle Melrose Abbey Floors Castle
The gardens at Mellerstain are situated to the south of the Main House and consist mainly of five acres of terraces with, on the top terrace, a fine herbaceous border running its length, with a series of yew trees on the south side. Steps lead down to the East and West over the Crypto Porticus to the middle terrace which has a formal parterre on either side of the main path and a herbaceous border on the north wall. The path then leads down curved steps around the fish pond to the lower terrace and borders and then on to the lake. The gardens command a glorious view over the lake and over to the Cheviot Hills twenty miles away.
The Hon. George Baillie commissioned William Adam to build Mellerstain in 1725. Adam also landscaped the immediate 3,500 acres in the style of 'Capability' Brown. The landscaping included a lake in the form of a Dutch Canal with broad walks around it and classical statues at intervals. Adam built the folly Humundas Tower in 1727, known as Hundy Mundy, in the middle distance to carry the eye through to the Cheviot Hills. Sir Reginald Blomfield was commissioned to build the Italianate terraces in 1909 and also to rusticate and enlarge the lake. The spoil was used in the terraces. The lower terraces extending down the hill to the lake were not undertaken in the event.