The Monteath Mausoleum
As a youngster heading for summer holidays to Whitley Bay, York or Scarborough the journey south was a mixture of wonder and discomfort. Wonder at the sights we would see on the way, with accompanying info supplied by my wonderful folks, and discomfort at the travel sickness which dogs me to this day (albeit much reduced, thankfully!)
Driving through the Borders one of the first tests was the A68 and it’s rollercoaster ups and downs as it clings closely to the route of the 2,000 year old Roman Road - Dere Street. This was not a test I always passed, and poor mum and dad would have to deal with a sickly laddie. Anyway, I’m not going to just write about my adventures in car sickness, the real wonder of this section of road to the juvenile Tweed Valley Blogger was the exotic, and enigmatic, building which sits a few hundred metres west of the road. It is known as the Monteath Mausoleum and I finally got round to not only visiting the building last week but actually getting inside it, some 30 plus years since it first fascinated me on queasy journeys to the North East of England’s finest holiday hotspots.
So what is it? It’s a mausoleum, built while it’s intended inhabitant was still very much alive but in the great tradition of Victorian obsession with the dead and grand, over the top monuments to them, an obsession which did not survive the all encompassing horror of World War One. The man responsible was Thomas Monteath, a Victorian soldier born in 1788. He joined the 35th regiment of the Bengal Infantry at the age of 19 and spent most of his military career campaigning in the Indian Subcontinent. He became a Major General in 1854 and was Knighted by Queen Victoria in 1865. At the age of 62 he inherited the Douglas Support fortune, a condition of which was to append the name 'Douglas' to his own. He didn’t hail from the Borders - like many Douglases his roots were Lanarkshire, so it’s not certain why he chose this spot for eternal rest. One of his daughters did marry an Ancrum man so this may be the connection.
The building was completed during his lifetime, to a design by Peddie and Kinnear of Edinburgh, using local craftsmen including Hawick sculptor Alexander Pirnie, who created the magnificent lions guarding the entrance and the angels inside the crypt. The angels are reputed to be designed after Monteath’s daughters however the excellent volunteer guide confirmed to me that no portraits exist to confirm this - but it doesn’t feel like too much of a stretch. Credit is due to Ancrum and District Heritage Society for the information on Monteath and the construction of the monument.
When I was admiring the mysterious building from the road as a kid, it was in a bit of a sorry state close up. Inside the roof had been breached and the tomb was damp, full of pigeon shit and dank. Outside, vegetation had taken over with weeds and ivy cloaking the place, giving it a faded and slightly sinister air - a perfect place for the youngsters of Jed and Bosells (St. Boswells) to scare each other witless with ghost stories. But there is a happy ending, Friends of the Monteath Mausoleum was formed and they have done a stupendous job of not only tidying up the monument but preserving it sympathetically and improving access - new paths and picnic seating make this a wonderful place to visit. Decent money has been spent on the restoration and it does show. It really is an exemplary bit of community work and the friends group should be rightly proud of the work done. The site can be accessed all year round, though please be careful if parking on the ferocious A68. Best bet is to do what I did and visit on an open day where you will be given expert guidance and be able to park next to the monument - as well as getting inside. Details of Open Days can be found by contacting the group using the link above.
My own thoughts on the mausoleum? Weird and wonderful about sums it up. The angels are beautiful, as long as you don’t blink. Monteath’s huge sarcophagus is now, apparently, empty but it’s stark aspect brought to mind MR James Count Magnus (clearly I read too many books and watch too much telly...) The lions guarding the entrance are huge and beautiful - and the fact that one watches you while the other sleeps just adds another wrinkle of intrigue. The real wow moment is the star chamber roof and when you add to that the 8 second echo which reverberates around the tomb you have a place that has to go on the must visit list of Borders attractions.
Once we had got past the mausoleum on our late 80’s/early 90’s road trips I had stories of Waterloo Monument, Jed Abbey, Mary Queen of Scots, Carter Bar and Catcleugh Reservoir to keep my mind off my poorly tum before a stop at Byrness Service Station (RIP) and a sandwich would perk me up. By the time we got to our holiday hotel or caravan all thoughts of travel sickness were long gone, but the memories of the echoes of the past we passed on the way remained and they still do to this day. Thanks, mum and dad.
