Revealed: How comedian Alan Carr splashed out £3.3m for his castle in Scotland

Published: 21:38, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 21:38, 5 July 2026 Comedian Alan Carr paid more than £3.3million for his Scottish castle, the Mail can disclose, despite attempts to keep the price a secret. The 50-year-old Celebrity Traitors winner snapped up 17-bedroom Ayton Castle in Berwickshire earlier this year. Set in more than 160 acres, the 19th century pile is regarded as one of the country’s finest baronial-style stately homes. It was on the market for offers over £3.25millon, but it can now be revealed he paid £3,310,300. Ayton Castle was transferred to the ownership of Alan Graham Carr, the comedian’s full name, in mid-June but the price was concealed using a legal loophole. In a tactic used by many wealthy people, buyers in Scotland can opt not to reveal the price paid for land in a box marked ‘monetary consideration’ when they submit papers to Registers of Scotland, which records property transactions. Instead they insert the legal term ‘implementation of missives’ in a box marked ‘non-monetary consideration’. Comedian and TV host Alan Carr with friend Amanda Holden Ayton Castle, set in 160 acres, boasts 17 bedrooms. The Berwickshire mansion was snapped up by Carr earlier this year  It means the purchase price does not appear in the title deeds or the public land register. Anyone wanting to discover the price paid must write to the Registers of Scotland and ask specifically for the application form used to register the sale. It is a process which costs more and takes far longer. Andy Wightman, a land reform analyst, said this practice ‘is against the spirit of the land registration rules’ and the regulations should be amended. Ayton Castle was designed in the Gothic revival style by architect James Gillespie Graham in 1845. The grounds include a 600-metre mini-railway. A Registers of Scotland spokesman said: ‘Land registration law requires the disclosure of the consideration for a transaction. In most cases this is a monetary sum, but [in some cases] it can also be non-monetary. ‘The Keeper of the Registers of Scotland must record the consideration exactly as it appears in the deed and is not in a position to determine what non-monetary consideration may comprise or why it has been used.’ The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.