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Barjarg Tower
Barjarg Tower is an L-plan tower house probably dating from 1680, four miles south-east of Penpont, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p.74 It is attached to a 19th-century mansion. History The land appears to have been given to Thomas Grierson by the Earl of Morton in 1587. His son John Grierson and his wife Grizel Kilpatrick built the tower. Subsequent owners included the judge Lord Tinwald and the minister Andrew Hunter. Structure The castle, which has been modernised within, has a crenellated parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ..., which may be a later addition. It has one open round turret at one corner and two conically capped turrets at two others. The castle, which has four storeys and an attic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
L-plan
An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other locations. The evolution of its design was an expansion of the blockhouse or simple square tower from the Early Middle Ages. As building techniques improved, it became possible to construct a larger building footprint and a more complex shape than the simple blockhouse tower. A more compelling motivation for the L plan was the ability to defend the entrance door by providing covering fire from the adjacent walls. This stratagem was particularly driven by the advent of cannon used by attackers. It was common for the union of the two wings to have very thick wall construction to support a major defensive tower in the union area. For example, the stone walls of Muchalls Castle in Scotland are over 14 feet thick at the ground level. Built in the 13t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tower House
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces. At the same time, they were also used as an aristocrat's residence, around which a castle town was often constructed. Europe After their initial appearance in Ireland, Scotland, the Stins, Frisian lands, Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country and England during the High Middle Ages, tower houses were also built in other parts of western Europe, especially in parts of France and Italy. In Italian medieval communes, urban ''palazzi'' with a very tall tower were increasingly built by the local highly competitive Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician families as power centres during times of internal strife. Most north Italian cities had a number of these by the end of the Middles Ages, but few no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penpont
Penpont is a village about west of Thornhill in Dumfriesshire, in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland. It is near the confluence of the Shinnel Water and Scaur Water rivers in the foothills of the Southern Uplands. It has a population of about 400 people. Archaeology There are several archaeological sites nearby, including Late Bronze Age hill forts on Tynron Doon and Grennan Hill and a long cairn at Capenoch Loch dating from the 2nd or 3rd century. History The toponym ''Penpont'' means "bridge-head" in the Cumbric language once spoken in the region. The A702 road passes through Penpont. West of Thornhill it crosses the River Nith on a two-arched stone bridge in Penpont parish. It was built in the 1760s after the presbytery of Penpont raised £680 toward the cost. Work started about 1774, but in 1776 the bridge collapsed. The bridge was completed in 1778 and strengthened in 1930–31. It is a Category A listed building. Penpont's Church of Scotland parish chur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. In terms of historic counties it borders Kirkcudbrightshire to the west, Ayrshire to the north-west, Lanarkshire, Peeblesshire and Selkirkshire to the north, and Roxburghshire to the east. To the south is the coast of the Solway Firth, and the English county of Cumberland. Dumfriesshire has three traditional subdivisions, based on the three main valleys in the county: Annandale, Eskdale and Nithsdale. These had been independent provinces in medieval times but were gradually superseded as administrative areas by the area controlled by the sheriff of Dumfries, or Dumfriesshire. A Dumfriesshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975. Since 1975, the area of the historic county has formed part of the Dumfries and Galloway council ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands. Scotland is divided into 32 administrative subdivisions or local authorities, known as council areas. Glasgow City is the largest council area in terms of population, with Highland being the largest in terms of area. Limited self-governing power, covering matters such as education, social services and roads and transportation, is devolved from the Scott ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clan Grierson
Clan Grierson is a Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands Scottish Clan.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages 152 – 153. History Origins of the Family The personal name Gregor comes from the Greek language, Greek for ''vigilant'', through its Latin translation of ''gregorious''. The name was popular amongst clergy in the Middle Ages. It is from this forename that the surname of Grierson has been claimed to be derived. It has been conjectured that the Grierson family come from the same stock as the Clan Gregor however there is no evidence to support such a claim. DNA has proved conclusively that the Griersons do not descend from the MacGregors, but despite this Grierson is recognized as a sept of Clan Gregor by the . The surname ''Grierson (name), Grierson'' is a modern spelling of the medieval (circa 1408) surname Grerson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earl Of Morton
The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. The family seat is Dalmahoy Farms, Morton near Kirknewton, West Lothian. History Douglases of Dalkeith The Douglases of Dalkeith are descended from Andrew Douglas of Hermiston (or ''Herdmanston'') (d.b. 1277), younger son of Archibald I, Lord of Douglas (fl. c. 1198–1238). He was succeeded by his son William Douglas of Hermiston, a signatory of the Ragman Roll in 1296. William of Hermiston's son, James Douglas of Lothian succeeded his father and produced two sons, Sir William Douglas and Sir John Douglas. Sir William Douglas, known as the ''Knight of Liddesdale'' or the ''Flower of Chivalry'' obtained the privileges of the barony of Dalkeith, in Midlothian, in 1341, and the barony of Aberdour, in Fife, in 1342. Following his mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Erskine, Lord Tinwald
Charles Erskine also spelled Areskine (1680 – 5 April 1763), of Tinwald and Barjarg, Dumfries, and Alva, Clackmannan was Lord Advocate, a Scottish judge, and a politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1742. Life Erskine was the fourth son of Sir Charles Erskine, 1st Baronet, of Alva, Clackmannanshire and his wife Christian Dundas, daughter of Sir James Dundas, Lord Arniston. His older brothers included Robert Erskine, physician to Peter the Great. Charles was educated at the High School of Edinburgh and studied Law at Edinburgh University from 1693. At the age of 20 he was a candidate for the office of one of the four Regents of the University of Edinburgh, and after an examination with several competitors obtained that appointment on 26 November 1700 until 17 October 1707. On 7 November he was appointed the first Professor of Public Law in the university in 1707, despite the protests of the council. He was at Utrecht in about 1710 and became a member of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Hunter (minister)
Andrew Hunter of Barjarg FRSE (1743–1809) was a Minister in Edinburgh. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1792, was Professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh and a Founding Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Life Andrew Hunter of Barjarg in Dumfriesshire, was born in 1743, the eldest son of Andrew Hunter, W.S, in Edinburgh, and Grizell Maxwell of Cardoness. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh and then studied Divinity at the University of Edinburgh under Rev Prof Robert Walker, but did not graduate. He then spent a year at the University of Utrecht furthering his studies in Calvinist theology. He was then made a licensed probationer by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1767, though it seemed he refused to take up any formal position while his father, whom he adored, lived. He was ordained as assistant minister ("Second Charge") in the "New Church" of the Parish of Dumfries, on 20 September 1770. He inherite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crenellated
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals to allow for the launch of arrows or other projectiles from within the defences. These gaps are termed " crenels" (also known as ''carnels'', or ''embrasures''), and a wall or building with them is called crenellated; alternative (older) terms are castellated and embattled. The act of adding crenels to a previously unbroken parapet is termed crenellation. The function of battlements in war is to protect the defenders by giving them something to hide behind, from which they can pop out to launch their own missiles. A defensive building might be designed and built with battlements, or a manor house might be fortified by adding battlements, where no parapet previously existed, or cutting crenellations into its existing parapet wall. A d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Where extending above a roof, a parapet may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the edge line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a fire wall or party wall. Parapets were originally used to defend buildings from military attack, but today they are primarily used as guard rails, to conceal rooftop equipment, reduce wind loads on the roof, and to prevent the spread of fires. In the Bible the Hebrews are obligated to build a parapet on the roof of their houses to prevent people falling (Deuteronomy 22:8). Parapet types Parapets may be plain, embattled, perforated or panelled, which are not mutually exclusive terms. *Plain parapets are upward extensions of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castles In Dumfries And Galloway
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a fortress, which was not always a residence for royalty or nobility; from a ''pleasance'' which was a walled-in residence for nobility, but not adequately fortified; and from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Use of the term has varied over time and has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th-20th century homes built to resemble castles. Over the approximately 900 years when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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