Dryburgh Steading Three

The freshly-renovated Dryburgh Steadings are four holiday homes set around an attractive courtyard, with the development attractively flanked by gardens and dry-stone walls. Featuring rustic exteriors of restored pink sandstone and pistachio-painted weatherboarding, their hamlet sits at the end of a no-through lane in a tranquil spot beside the River Tweed’s banks. Visible beyond are the three conical Eildon Hills.

Sleeping between four and six guests and containing two or three bathrooms, each Steading property shares the same high-end finishes and sleek contemporary design while possessing its own distinct charm and benefits. All enjoy access to a large, lawned communal area.

The largest property, Steading Three features three bedrooms and three bathrooms – with a ground-floor bedroom and adjacent shower room ideal for less mobile guests. From both its fire-warmed sitting-and-dining room and the kitchen, which boasts a further dining table, doors lead out to an enclosed garden whose sun-kissed patio and gas barbecue allows for outdoor meals.

While eating, relish unbroken views of the ancient Temple of Muses – a Greek-style structure dedicated to local, Rule, Britannia!-writing poet and playwright James Thomson. A path leads the few metres to it, before continuing on to the river where stately, statuesque herons wait to pounce on fish.

You’ll enjoy quality kitchen equipment, luxurious bed linen and towels, indulgent waffle bathrobes, flatscreen televisions and a generous welcome hamper of goodies. Dogs are very welcome, and an outdoor hose pipe helps to clean them after muddy walks.

Just below that Temple of the Muses begins the pretty, pedestrian-only Dryburgh Suspension Bridge – erected in 1872 to replace Britain’s first ever chain bridge. This safely transports walkers across the meandering Tweed towards the village of St. Boswells and its award-winning Mainstreet Trading Company’s bookshop-cum-cafe. Remain on the river’s east side and a five-minute stroll will take you up to ruined Dryburgh Abbey, the monumental resting place of Sir Walter Scott, while a colossal William Wallace statue looms over mature trees from a neighbouring hillside.

Other local highlights include baronial Dryburgh Abbey Hotel for evening drinks, picturesque Leaderfoot Viaduct, what remains of Trimontium – once the largest Roman fort north of Hadrian’s Wall – Scott’s eclectic home at Abbotsford and Scott’s View, one of the novelist’s most beloved look-outs. Eight miles away, the beguiling market town of Melrose has great shops and restaurants, and another of the four great Border abbeys.

ADDITIONAL ACCOMMODATION

For guests looking to holiday together, this cottage can be booked alongside Dryburgh Steading One (sleeping 4), Dryburgh Steading Two (sleeping 4), Dryburgh Steading Four (sleeping 4), The Bothy at Dryburgh (sleeping 2), Dryburgh Stirling One (sleeping 4), Dryburgh Stirling Two (sleeping 4) or Dryburgh Farmhouse (sleeping 10).