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Neidpath Castle is an L-plan rubble-built tower house, overlooking the River Tweed near Peebles in the Borders of Scotland. An early castle was probably built here by Simon Fraser of Oliver Castle between 1263 and 1266. Sir William de Haya probably built the present castle in the late 14th century. It was held by them until the 17th century.
During Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Scotland in 1650, Neidpath was attacked. During the 1660s, the 2nd Earl of Tweeddale remodelled the castle, and constructed outbuildings. Later Neidpath castle suffered neglect and by 1790 the upper storeys of the wing had collapsed.
The castle is today both a wedding venue and filming location and can be viewed by appointment.
Neidpath Castle is a tall L-plan tower house, one leg of the L being very short. It has rounded corners. The battlements are roofed and the sentry walk is a balustraded balcony. There are few windows, and two still have their iron bar protection. Inside, the basement and the first-floor hall are vaulted, and the hall is further divided by a wooden floor into two storeys. Other features include a pit dungeon, and some small exhibitions of artifacts found in the locale. There are remains of a partly walled garden. The archway is decorated with both the goats head emblem of the Hays and the strawberries of the Frasers.
References:Střekov Castle (Schreckenstein) is perched atop a cliff above the River Elbe, near the city of Ústí nad Labem. It was built in 1316 for John of Luxembourg, the father of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, to guard an important trade route to Germany. After changing hands several times, the castle was acquired by the Lobkowicz family in 1563. Its strategic importance led to occupations by Imperial Habsburg, Saxon, and Swedish forces during the Thirty Years' War, as well as successive sieges by Austrian and Prussian armies during the Seven Years' War.
Although Střekov Castle was heavily damaged during those conflicts and abandoned as a military installation by the end of the 18th century, the 1800s saw many poets and artists visiting the castle, drawn by a new trend of interest in romantic ruins.