Kirkhope Tower is a Scottish Pele, located in the Ettrick Valley, in the historic county of

Selkirkshire Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk ( gd, Siorrachd Shalcraig) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. ...

, now a division of the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

. The tower lies a mile to the north west of

Ettrickbridge Ettrickbridge ( gd, Drochaid Eadaraig) is a village situated in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, from the nearby town of Selkirk. It sits on the B7009 road, which follows the Ettrick Water south-west from Selkirk, along the Ettrick V ...

, and seven miles (11 km) from the Burgh of Selkirk.

Construction

Overview

A remote and austere building, Kirkhope Tower is of a square footprint and constructed from local stone. It consists of four main floors and a garret floor above the

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 ...

. Its small windows are constructed with simple relieving arches and stand with the exception of the light into the Ground floor at heights of over thirty feet. It stands on rough ground that slopes steeply away to the valley below.

Ground floor

The ground floor is of vaulted construction and is accessible through a small door that could be easily barricaded by use of an iron

yett A yett (from the Old English and Scots language word for "gate") is a gate or grille of latticed wrought iron bars used for defensive purposes in castles and tower houses. Unlike a portcullis, which is raised and lowered vertically using mecha ...

. The room was lit by an oblique light on the opposite wall to the entrance, affording no view or access to within the chamber from potential attackers. Access to the upper floors was by use of a timber staircase that leads from the left of the entrance to the northeast angle of the building.

First floor

The first floor of the Tower would have housed the original

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

of the tower with access to the above floors only to be gained by crossing the room to the

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

in the south east angle. Adjacent to the turnpike is the main entrance to the building, which in times of war could be accessed by a wooden stair or ladder that could be retracted within, the door on the ground being firmly secured.

Second and third floors

These levels provided accommodation for the

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

and his family with timber floors joisted with oak dividing them.

Parapet and garret

There are two rectangular

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

s in the northwest and southeast angles of the parapet, the latter of which acts of the

cap-house A cap-house (sometimes written cap house or caphouse) is a small watch room, built at the top of a spiral staircase, often giving access to a parapet on the roof of a tower house or castle. They provided protection from the elements by enclosin ...

for the

staircase rising from below. There are walkways within the parapet to the North, South and East, the western gable being taken up by the flues for the Fireplaces in the floors below. The parapet is supported by simple

Corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

s. The addition of the covered turrets rather than simple

Bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from the ...

s suggest a relatively late construction.

Exterior

There are remains of the

Barmkin Barmkin, also spelled barmekin or barnekin, is a Scots word which refers to a form of medieval and later defensive enclosure, typically found around smaller castles, tower houses, pele towers, and bastle houses in Scotland and the north of Engl ...

wall still extant. This originally formed a Bailey around the structure in which cattle and tenants could seek refuge in dangerous times.

History

Although there is no records of its construction, Kirkhope was presumably constructed by the early part of the 16th century in accordance with an act of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

, dated 1535 that required large landholders in the Borderlands to build

barmkin Barmkin, also spelled barmekin or barnekin, is a Scots word which refers to a form of medieval and later defensive enclosure, typically found around smaller castles, tower houses, pele towers, and bastle houses in Scotland and the north of Engl ...

s of stone and

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

, sixty square feet in area and with walls of one ell thickness and six ells in height "for the resett and defense of him, his tennents, and his gudis in troublous tyme". Furthermore "with ane toure in the samen for himself gif he thinks it expedient. And that all ather landit men of smaller rent and reuenew evenuebig uildpelis and greit strenthis as they please for the saifing of thaimselfs, &c.; and that the said strenthis, barmkynis, and pelis be biggit and completit within twa yeris under pane."

Rough Wooing

Kirkhope was burnt and its stock removed during the campaign of

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, (22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was brother-in-law to King Henry VIII. Biography Charles Brandon was the second ...

in the early stages of the

Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

, by

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. The actual raiding itself was carried out by members of the cross border "Riding Family" of

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

Auld Wat Scott of Harden

Walter Scott of Harden was a notorious

Border Reiver Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their vi ...

. The tower of Kirkhope was used as a residence of the eldest sons of the Scotts of Harden Castle, immediately to the west of

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

. Young Wat Scott brought his bride and cousin Mary Scott of Dryhope, better known as the "Flower of Yarrow" back to Kirkhope prior to the death of his father William. Mary Scott was as renowned for her beauty as much as her mate was known for his belligerence. Wat Scott was later to be a supporter of

Francis Stewart, 1st Earl of Bothwell Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

, an unsuccessful warrant for his arrest was made in 1592 by

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. Wat Scott, although the subject of many

Border ballad Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...

s is perhaps best remembered by his wife's reaction to empty stores, presenting him with his spurs on a platter for dinner – a signal to ready his men for a raid.

Later centuries

Kirkhope came into the possession of

Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch (11 February 1651 – 6 February 1732) was a wealthy Scottish peeress. After her father died when she was a few months old, and her sisters by the time she was 10, she inherited the family's titles. She was ma ...

, widow of the

Duke of Monmouth Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

in the early eighteenth century and from mid-nineteenth century it was allowed to fall into a state of decay. By 1907 the tower was the poetic subject of eleven stanzas by Scottish Border poet and Australian bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963), a romantic reflection of its former life contrasted to its present state:

Today

Kirkhope Tower was rescued from ruin in the later part of the twentieth century and by 1996 it was again in use as a private residence. It is now owned by Peter Clarke, a former Conservative parliamentary candidate and landowner. Clarke was spokesperson for the Wild Beasts Trust, a movement to reintroduce numerous wild species back into the United Kingdom. In 2007 Peter Clarke was interviewed and gave a tour of Kirkhope Tower on the BBC TV programme ''Castle in the Country'', first aired on 16 July 2008, in episode 6 of the 4th series. The tower and associated barmkin has been designated a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

and

Category A listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland, which are among the listed buildings of the United Kingdom. For a fuller list, see the pages linked on List of listed buildings in Scotland. Key The organization of the lists in th ...

building by

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

. As of April 2019, the tower is offered for sale.

References

Tranter, Nigel Nigel Tranter OBE (23 November 1909 – 9 January 2000) was a writer of a wide range of books on castles, particularly on themes of architecture and history. He also specialised in deeply researched historical novels that cover centuries of Sco ...

, ''The Fortified House in Scotland Vol. I-South-East''. Owen and Boyd, Edinburgh. 1962 *Mike Salter "Castles of Lothian and The Borders, Folly Publications, Malvern, 2012

External links

Smoor Architects overview and plans of restoration of KirkhopeSouthern Reporter, June 2005: Historic tower goes on the marketRCAHMS Canmore: Kirkhope towerSCRAN image: Kirkhope Tower
{{Castles in the Scottish Borders Houses completed in the 16th century Towers completed in the 16th century Castles in the Scottish Borders Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Scheduled Ancient Monuments in the Scottish Borders Listed castles in Scotland Peel towers in the Scottish Borders Tower houses in Scotland