Valentine’s Day is coming and thoughts turn to love. Where is Britain’s most romantic spot? We think that Paxton House might just be the place. If your romance is just beginning, if you are ready to pop the question or if you are looking for somewhere to seal the deal, come and soak up some of our romance.

For a start the house and grounds offer many supremely romantic locations. The steps that regally descend from the pillared portico at the house’s front door are perfect for dreamy exits and entrances. Anyone seeking the opposite of grandeur will find the wild rural charm of the riverside boathouse is hard to beat. If you can picture yourself sipping champagne on lawns overlooking one of the best views in Britain?  The Paxton Marquee has a stunning view onto the River Tweed to the Union Chain Bridge and the Cheviot Hills beyond. Any one of these places will make your heart swell.

Then there is real history to support your choice of wedding venue or place to propose.  When Patrick Home built Paxton House, he was not just making a Grand Design of his own, he was making a home for his bride. He’d fallen in love at the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia and

though his mother had disapproved, he hoped that his lady love, Sophie de Brandt, might be persuaded to come to Paxton once he had a gorgeous state-of-the-art home to show her.  Sadly for Patrick, Sophie died before the house was complete and he moved away. Paxton House remains as a memorial to their love.

About the time Paxton House was being built, a new fashion for elopement took hold. Perhaps the most romantic (if a touch impractical) form of marriage. There was a change in the law in 1753 which meant that you couldn’t get married except in a Church of England ceremony south of the Border – but on our side of the Border, things were much more relaxed. Just to the north east of Paxton House is a small house that sits right on the Scotland England border.  This is Paxton Toll house and until 1857, you could legally get married here in our corner of Scotland; no need to go to Gretna Green. It is hard to tell how many English people came here to be married, because pretty sketchy records were kept, but it was probably particularly popular straight after the annual Berwick Hirings Fair when agricultural workers got a new contract for the coming year and would want to share their good fortune. We like to think that a bit of the romance those impetuous couples brought with them still hangs around Paxton House.

There’s another spot at Paxton which is heavy with romance. Against the warm brick wall of the old walled garden is an archway gloriously festooned with cherubs. Given its scale it is surprising that this splendid little niche started out as a window in a Victorian building in Edinburgh.  We love its chubby cherubs and think that this makes it one of our more romantic spots – cherubs have long been associated with love. It is certainly a favourite for photographs.

So, if your heart is turning to romance this Valentine’s Day, remember that Paxton House is one of the most romantic places in Britain to get married.  You don’t have to elope, you can include your friends and family – opt for a small intimate gathering in the Boathouse, a spectacular country house wedding or accommodate everyone in our spacious Marquee with views to die for. We can tailor Paxton to your style of romance. As it used to say two hundred years ago in the window of another local marriage spot ‘Ginger beer sold here and marriages performed’! Anything goes!

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