Millholm Cross Liddesdale Newcastleton Roxburghshire Scottish Borders

Laird of Mangerton’s Millholm Cross

Millholm Cross, Liddesdale, Newcastleton, Roxburghshire, Scottish Borders

The Millholm Cross stands in Liddesdale across the river and opposite Mangerton Tower, the stronghold of the Armstrong chiefs. It was erected about 1320 and commemorates an early Laird of Mangerton. The top of the cross is a recent restoration but the original cross-shaft is carved with a sword.

In the absence of any more real evidence about its origin, a legend has been woven about the cross.

This unlikely story of an abducted virgin and heroic rescue culminates in the base murder of bold heroic Alexander Armstrong, second Laird of Mangerton by the evil and cowardly de Soulis of Hermitage.

De Soulis, of course, eventually came to an unpleasant and grisly end himself; he was roasted over a fire, wrapped in lead sheeting from his own roof!

Location: Scottish Borders, Roxburghshire, Liddesdale
OS sheet: 79 NY GR: 476861