Dating back to 11th century monks

CARBERRY Tower is a hotel and conference centre today, but when Margaret Rhodes was born it was the ancestral home of the Barons of Elphinstone.

The lands on which it stands were first mentioned in the 11th century when King David I of Scotland granted Carberry to the monks of Dunfermline Abbey but by the 16th century it was a family home. However it wasn’t until 1801 that it became the property of the Elphinstones.

The then owner, John Fullerton, left it in his will to his niece, Elizabeth, who had married the Hon William Elphinstone. In 1861 the 15th Lord Elphinstone, also William, redesigned the house and gardens. His son, Sydney Herbert – Margaret’s father – also made improvements, particularly laying out a formal garden and planting specimen trees and new varieties of plants.