Abbotsford is an estate in the south of Scotland, in the Melrose area of the Scottish Borders area, built by the famous writer and poet Walter Scott in 1811-1824. The estate currently houses the Walter Scott Museum.
In 1811, Walter Scott acquired 100 acres of land on the south bank of the Tweed River, once owned by Melrose Abbey. At this point, Scott began to build a mansion in the old Scottish Baronial style, calling it Abbotsford - on the nearby ford across Tweed, on which the monks from the abbey crossed the river.
Scott bought and improved the surrounding lands, and turned the Abbotsford estate into a kind of museum of Scotland's medieval past. The mansion was built by Scott himself. Stained-glass windows depicting the kings of Scotland were copied from the ceiling of Stirling Castle, a fountain was built on the model of the Edinburgh Cross, located opposite the Cathedral of St. Aegidius in Edinburgh, alabaster copies of the gargoyles of the Melrose Abbey were created. An extensive library of Walter Scott and collections of antiques, furniture and weapons, replenished throughout his life, were brought to the estate.
One of the first in the mansion in England was used gas lighting, which remained in working condition until 1962.
The construction was completed in 1824. From 1826 until his death in 1832, Walter Scott constantly lived and worked in Abbotsford.