Tower Houses in the North

Throughout the Middle Ages life in the country was hazardous and only a castle or fortified town was safe from predatory raids or armed invasions. When conditions improved governments became stable the need to maintain high standards of defensive feature was relaxed, and there emerged the semi-fortified manor. In many cases machicolated walls, towers and gatehouses were retained, but the aristocratic villa was the symbol of the martial traditions of an arrogant ruling upper class. Stokesay Castle in Shropshire, built in the 1290, displays how a fortified manor could already, at the end of the 13th century, provide security but also a reasonable level of comfortable accommodation and privacy with a spacious hall, fine timber roof, shuttered gable windows with a pleasant view across the wooded countryside, wall painting, tiled floor, richly carved fireplace and flowered courtyard.

When England was pacified by a centralized government, the situation was, however, quite different in the north of the main British Isle, where a state of insecurity still reigned during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Until the union of England and Scotland in 1603, the northern countries were very much an unsafe frontier zone. The roots of these troubles lay in the times from 1296 onwards, when King Edward I of England attempted to take control of the Scottish throne. From that time on, although long periods of peace existed, the lives of those on the borders were affected by invasions, raids, burnings, blackmail and murder perpetrated by the so-called Border Reivers, whose heyday was the 15th and 16th centuries. A violent way of life based around strong families and clans developed. Raids and counter-raids led to quarrels and vendettas between them. The feuds, which were often carried on over many years, could be across the border or even between clans of the same nationality. Many borderers indeed wore their nationality lightly, and there were many marriages between Scottish and English families. Protection money or extorted tribute in kind was paid by small farmers and peasants to the Reivers in return for freedom from molestation, and to prevent raids and theft. Some rulers, particularly Henry VIII, encouraged the troubles on the Anglo-Scottish border both to cause problems for the opposite side, and to develop troops skilled in guerrilla warfare for use overseas. Once the Crowns of England and Scotland were united in 1603, a determined effort was made to stop the activities of the Reivers. Many were banished to Ireland, many were hanged, and others were forced to join the army for service abroad. The chances of the remaining troublemakers escaping the law were greatly reduced, but reiving activities died out slowly, with incidents occurring well into the 17th century, notably carried out by small gangs of bandits known as Moss-troopers during the Royalist rising of 1651-1654.

There was thus a considerable amount of private military building at the Anglo-Scottish border region involving fortified towers, manors, and castles of various kinds.

In this context of endemic violence, a particular type of fortification was used, known as pele (also spelled “peel”—small fortified dwelling keep) and bastle (fortified farm), commonly designated under the generic term of tower house. Unlike the semi-fortified manor and the residential palace, the 16th-century Scottish tower-house had military defensive features not as symbolic and ornamental display but out of necessity. Built by clan chiefs, small lords, and fairly wealthy farmers, they were, however, humble structures of only local importance. They were primarily designed for private living but also had to safeguard the owner, his family, and his retainers against the ever-present threat of a sudden attack. They were also used in the Anglo-Scottish wars although their purpose was not so much defense against a regular army equipped with artillery, for which they would have been useless anyway, as defense against sporadic attack by small armed bands intent on cattle raiding and looting. Tower houses were private buildings, thus there is no such thing as a standard design but instead there was a wide range of layouts, and many additions and alterations. Inevitably there were developments within the basic tower formula to provide additional and more varied accommodation. There were, however, many similarities, as all towers were designed for the same defensive purpose. Pele towers and bastles were built in fairly large numbers on both sides of the Scottish border for about 300 years, basically from 1300 to 1600. Fundamentally border towers were of the same vertical type, simple in plan (a rectangle) and internal arrangement (a single room on each floor). They were high and narrow buildings but nevertheless cleverly designed for defense. In certain more elaborate and complex cases, ground-plans conformed to the shape of a Z or an L by staggering turrets, towers or parts of the building so that overlapping fields of fire and flanking fire could be poured from gunports pierced in the ground and upper floors. This way an all-round defense was maintained with minimum expenditure on a few light handguns. These designs also allowed at least some of the rooms to be alongside each other rather than superimposed. Tower houses were made of stone, always with thick walls about one meter thick, and had no opening on the ground floor except the entrance. This could also be on the first floor and reached by an outside staircase. The roof was usually made of stone slate to improve the building’s resistance to fire. Sometimes they were provided with an adjoining enclosure bailey or barmkin containing ancillary buildings, and also used for the protection of tenants and their livestock during raids. Sometimes there was a moat (crossed by a drawbridge) surrounding the tower and bailey. So with improvement, additions and enlargement a towerhouse could take the shape of a small castle. Of course, the landowner who one day was sheltering in his pele tower from the depredation of his neighbor, was the next day riding out on his own robbing and blackmailing expedition. Some towers, however, functioned entirely

Right: The well-preserved Amisfield Tower, also known as Hempisfield Tower, located about 5 miles north of Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, was built by the Charteris family around 1600. It has a height of approximately 90 feet, and although its basic plan is a simple square (30 ?30 feet) with four stories and an attic, its richness in corbelling and turrets, dormer windows, steeply-pitched roof, stonework imitating logs and rope, and dog-toothed motifs around the armorial panels give it a quite impressive and romantic guise. Three corners have double-storied turrets while the fourth is decked. These upper features are built in warm, red ashlar in contrast to the rubble walls below. Gunports were arranged in the upper level, and the entrance was defended by a machicolation. Within the castle there is a vaulted basement, the rooms have fine fireplaces with evidence of tempera wall-painting, and the first floor is arranged as a hall and a garderobe.

Bottom: Claypotts Tower, located near Dundee (Tayside), was built on the Z-plan between 1569 and 1588, and it presents a splendid example of a Scottish tower house: a rectangular main tower block (c. 33 ? 22 feet) with two additional round towers (20 feet in diameter) at two diagonally opposite corners. As circular rooms do not provide the most convenient spaces for living accommodation, the upper rooms in the round towers were turned into rectangular spaces by corbelling. This feature gives Claypotts much of its striking appearance.

Top: Plan of Claypotts. The projection of the round corner towers meant that all four faces of the main building could be protected by gunfire, as gunports were provided in both towers at ground floor level.

Bottom: Auldhame Castle (conjectured reconstruction), standing on a ridge above Seacliff beach, about 3 miles east of North Berwick in East Lothian, is a ruined L-plan tower house with round corner turrets. The castle was built in the late 16th century, probably by Adam Otterburn of Reidhall, Lord Provost of Edinburgh. It consists of a three-story main block with a projecting stair-tower. Part of a vaulted basement remains, but the upper floors are mostly gone. The building had a yellow harling wash over its mixed rubble construction, which would have given it a bright yellow appearance against the steel grey waters of the North sea below.

Auchindoun Castle, located about two miles southeast of Dufftown, Scotland, an L-plan tower house, stands on a hilltop within the earthworks of an Iron Age hill fort. The castle was built in the mid-15th century for John Stuart, Earl of Mar. In 1480 the estates and titles were given to the king’s favorite, Robert Cochrane, master mason turned architect. In 1482, Scottish nobles captured many of the King’s favorites, including Robert Cochrane, and hanged them from Lauder Bridge. Ownership of the castle passed swiftly through the hands of many people. In 1571 it was the home of Adam Gordon, a staunch supporter of the ousted Mary, Queen of Scots. That year he marched to Corgarff Castle to confront his enemy, John Forbes, but finding the menfolk away he set fire to the building, killing John’s wife, Margaret, and 27 other women, children and servants. Auchindoun Castle was sacked and burnt in 1591 by the Mackintoshes in revenge for the murder of the Bonnie Earl O’Moray by the Marquis of Huntly and Sir Patrick Gordon of Auchindoun. The castle was restored but by 1725 it had been abandoned and partly demolished to provide building material. The illustration is a conjectured reconstruction.

As refuges. In some cases churches were fortified so that the local villagefolk could shelter there until the lord to whom they normally paid blackmail came to their rescue.

Tower houses, which were a late medieval version of the ancient broch, were also constructed in Ireland where well over 2,000 of them are still extant. Some estimate that there were as many as 8,000 built during the Middle Ages. They, of course, also existed in Northern England. English castles of the courtyard type, such as Bodiam and Herstmonceux, described above, were not the only ones built during the 14th and 15 th centuries. In this type of castle quarters and service buildings had one or two floors and were placed laterally, side by side in the yard. In another group of castles, however, built or added to during the same period, the rooms were arranged vertically, one above the other, forming a tower four or five stories high, and therefore could be termed a tower-house. As discussed above, tower houses form one of

Left: Preston Tower (conjectured reconstruction) is a ruined L-plan keep in the ancient village of Preston, southeast of Prestonpans and southwest of Prestongrange in East Lothian, Scotland. The original structure, some of which may date from the 14th century, had four stories. A further two stories were added above the parapet in 1626, with Renaissance windows. The entrance to the tower was defended by a lean-to hoarding from which projectiles could be dropped. The tower was damaged by Oliver Cromwell’s troop during the English Civil War in 1650. After being restored it burnt again, accidentally, in 1663 and was abandoned for the nearby Preston House, East Lothian. Preston Tower was purchased by the National Trust for Scotland in 1969. It is currently under the guardianship of East Lothian Council.

Above: Ballencrieff Tower, located three miles northwest of Haddington, and one mile south of Aberlady, East Lothian, Scotland, was built in 1507 when King James IV ordered his private secretary James Murray to build himself a fortified house. The stronghold was destroyed in around 1545, and was rebuilt by his son, John Murray, in 1586. The house burnt down accidentally in 1868, and stood roofless until it was restored between 1992 and 1997. It is now privately owned. The long, rectangular tower had extensive accommodation over three stories, including a vaulted basement, with a near-symmetrical north front. The tall, narrow southeast wing has crow-step gables, and gun holes.

Opposite bottom: Dalkeith Castle, located in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, originates from an early castle built in the 12th century, and was home to Sir James Douglas (the Black Douglas). The castle was strategically sited in an easily defensible position above a bend in the River North Esk. In 1543, the castle was besieged. It was taken and destroyed by the English in 1547. Around 1585 it was rebuilt in the form of an L-plan keep with a curtain wall, for James Douglas, the fourth Earl of Morton. In 1642 Dalkeith Castle was bought by Francis, the second Earl of Buccleugh, and between 1702 and 1710 it was extensively remodelled for Anne, the Duchess of Buccleuch, with part of the existing castle demolished, and the rest incorporated into a new palace, named Dalkeith House, designed by James Smith. The palace was later enlarged and embellished over the years by the celebrated Scottish architects John Adam, James Playfair and William Burn. Dalkeith House is now a European study center for the University of Wisconsin, and the centerpiece of the Dalkeith Country Estate. The illustration shows how the castle might have appeared by the end of the 16th century.

Above: The now ruined Berriedale Castle, located on a rocky promontory projecting into the mouth of the Berriedale River in Caithness, was originally a stronghold constructed by order of Sir Reginald Cheyne in the 14th century. It was later developed into a larger castle by the Sutherlands clan. The castle passed from the Sutherlands to the Oliphants clan before it was handed to the Earl of Caithness in 1606. The walls and foundations represent the remains of a courtyard castle, which including a rectangular keep, and various domestic buildings, and date from the 15th or 16th century. The landward side was protected by a deep ditch, which would once have been crossed by a drawbridge.

Above: Warkworth, situated in a loop of the River Coquet in Northumberland, is one of the most unusual and elaborate of all tower houses in England. It was rebuilt in c. 1390 from an earlier 12th-century keep. The castle consists of three main sections: The outer bailey is a roughly square section at the southern end of the castle. The inner bailey is roughly triangular and is to the north of the outer bailey. The depicted keep is situated on a mound at the extreme northern end of the inner bailey. It was basically square in plan (80 by 80 feet) with a tower-like projection (25 by 15 feet) in the middle of each face. Externally the contrast with the great Norman keeps of the earlier period is demonstrated by the ample provision of windows. The internal space includes an intricate pattern of rooms, passages and staircases. The ground floor provides space for storage, a guardchamber and a prison. On the first floor are the hall, kitchen, and chapel, and on the second floor private chambers, a parlor and bedrooms. Today the reasonably well-preserved castle is managed by English Heritage.

Opposite bottom: Dudley Castle, located in West Midlands, originated from a motte-and-bai-ley timber stronghold built after the conquest of1066 by one of William I’s barons named William FitzAnsculf. After FitzAnsculf, the castle came into the possession of the Paganel family, who built the first stone castle on the site. However, after Gervase Paganel joined a failed rebellion against Henry II in 1173 the castle was demolished by order of the king. The Somery’s dynasty was the next to own the site and they set about building the castle in stone starting in the second half of the 13th century and continuing into the 14th. The castle was oblong in plan with four round corner-towers and was two stories high. A Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War, the castle was surrendered to Cromwell’s forces in 1646. Parliament subsequently ordered that Dudley be partly demolished and the present ruined appearance of the keep resulted from this decision.

Above: Penrith Castle (conjectured reconstruction), located at Penrith, south of Carlisle in Cumbria, was built at the end of the 14th century by Ralph Neville (c. 1364-1425), who played a key role in the defense of the Scottish border. Contrary to what might be expected, the castle was not built at the highest point of the hill, which lies 170 meters away. Its location was chosen because it was probably the site of an old Roman fort, the banks and ditches of which could be conveniently reused for their defensive function. The castle was improved and added to over the next 70 years, becoming a royal fortress for Richard, Duke of Gloucester before he became King Richard III in 1483. Richard added a new gatehouse and an impressive range of lodgings around the courtyard. The castle and the town remained part of the Crown Estate until the reign of William III, who gave it and most other Crown property in Cumberland to his friend Hans Wilhelm Bentinck, first Earl of Portland. The castle eventually passed from the Earls and Dukes of Portland to the Dukes of Devonshire. The layout of the castle can still be seen, but, sadly, only parts of the curtain wall and towers stand to any height. The ruined castle is now in the care of English Heritage. The illustration shows how the castle might have looked in c. 1430, after alterations made by Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury.

Right: Seafield tower. Located between Kinghorn and Kirkcaldy on the North Sea coast of Fife in Scotland, Seafiels tower was built in c. 1542. Abandoned since 1733, the tower is now in ruins. Constructed in sandstone, it was probably five stories high, its internal dimensions were 20 feet (6.1 m) by 14.3 ft (4.4 m), with walls 5 feet (1.5 m) thick. Since 1973 the ruins have been designated a Category B listed building by Historic Scotland.

Opposite bottom: Waughton Castle (conjectured reconstruction). On a rough rock outcrop some two miles west of the village of Whitekirk in East Lothian, clings a few fragmented remains of the ancient castle of Waughton. The earliest tower of Waughton is said to be of Saxon construction, but it was replaced by medieval works including a small chapel, an enclosing wall and a lean-to tower. Waughton first appears during the reign of King David II of Scots (1329-1371), when it was held by the family Hepburns. By the 18th century the castle was being used as material for building walls and cottages in the area. The illustration shows how the castle might have looked in the 15th century.

The major types of Scottish fortification, but there are a few in England. The English instances are distinct from the Scottish ones but they observe the same vertical principle. One of the earliest examples of an English tower-house is Dudley Castle in West Midland, built in c. 1320; Nunney in Somerset, built in c. 1373; Warkworth in Northumberland, rebuilt in the 1390s; and the already described Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire.