A historic smoking room at a Scottish estate made famous by Sir Walter Scott is due to open to the public for the first time.

The 138-year-old room at Bowhill House, country home of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, is being made public after undergoing a 21st-century transformation by two renowned textile and tapestry studios - Glasgow's Timorous Beasties and Edinburgh's Dovecot Studios.

The Smoking Room was once regarded as the inner sanctum for gentlemen at the country estate near Selkirk in the Borders but later fell out of use and was used as a storeroom.

It was added to the house - named Sweet Bowhill by frequent visitor Sir Walter Scott in his poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel - in the 1870s along with a dining room, billiard room and chapel.

The room's redesign was inspired by its history and includes a sofa depicting the south facade of the house on its back.

The Duke of Buccleuch said: "Not only is the Smoking Room at Bowhill House historically significant, but it also holds fond memories for my family and I.

"It was, in fact, rarely used as a smoking room but had a number of other uses for various family members.

"My grandmother used to wrap Christmas presents in the room during the festive season and I used it for periods of quiet study during my university years.

"I have been lucky enough to know the warmth of the room and am delighted that visitors to Bowhill will - more than a century after it was completed - be able to share this."

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