Sorbie Tower is a fortified

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 strateg ...

1 mile east of the village of

Sorbie Sorbie ( gd, Soirbidh) is a small village in Wigtownshire, Machars, within the Administration area of Dumfries and Galloway Council, Scotland. It is located midway between Wigtown and Whithorn on the A714 road. Farming forms the principal loca ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

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 ...

. The ancient seat of the

Clan Hannay Clan Hannay is a Lowland 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 16 ...

, it is in an

L-shaped Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letter U, a bell-shaped curve has the shape of the vertical ...

format, rubble-built in the late sixteenth century, possibly by Patrick Hannay. The poet and courtier at the court of

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 ...

Patrick Hannay Patrick Hannay (died 1630?) was a Scottish poet and courtier. Life He was probably the third son of Alexander Hannay of Kirkdale in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. The Hannay family seat is Sorbie Tower in Wigtownshire. Early in the reign of J ...

was a member of this family. It was sold to the

Earl of Galloway Earl of Galloway is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1623 for Alexander Stewart, 1st Lord Garlies, with remainder to his heirs male bearing the name and arms of Stewart. He had already been created Lord Garlies in the Peera ...

in 1677, and when the last of the line died in 1748 the tower became ruinous. It was given to the Clan Hannay by its owner in 1965. It remains to second floor level, although notably for a building of this kind there is no wall-walk or parapet. It is 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 ...

. There are plans to restore it.The £2m global appeal to save an ancient clan seat
(Alison Campsie, The Scotsman, 2017-09-12). The structure can be viewed both from the outside, free of charge, or, if you go to Garlieston Village and enquire within the village shop, you can go inside.

References

External links

{{coord, 54.79386, N, 4.41138, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NX451470), display=title Castles in Dumfries and Galloway Wigtownshire Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Dumfries and Galloway Listed castles in Scotland Tower houses in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Dumfries and Galloway