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Smailholm Tower is a peel tower at Smailholm, around five miles (8 km) west of Kelso in 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 Loth ...
. Its dramatic situation, atop a crag of Lady Hill, commands wide views over the surrounding countryside. The tower is located at grid reference , just west of Sandyknowe farm, and is now a
Scheduled Ancient 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 ...
in the care of
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 ...
. In June 2007, it was awarded the maximum "five-star" status as a tourist attraction from
VisitScotland VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board, is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and other p ...
, a rating bestowed on only eight other sites in Scotland.


History

Smailholm Tower was originally built in the 15th century or early 16th century by the Pringle family. This family, originally spelt Hoppringle, who were followers of the
Earl of Douglas This page is concerned with the holders of the forfeit title Earl of Douglas and the preceding feudal barons of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. The title was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1358 for William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, s ...
, held the lands of Smailholm from the early 15th century, and managed part of
Ettrick Forest 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 sout ...
for their feudal superior. In December 1482, James Hoppringill of Smailholm, son of David Hoppingrill, was sued for 300 merks by Margaret Kerr. He married Isobell Murray, their heir was David Hoppringill who married Margaret Lundy, and their eldest son was also called David. Smailholm Tower was designed, in common with all Scottish peel towers, to provide its occupants with protection from sporadic English raids. The tower was attacked by English soldiers in 1543, 1544 and again in 1546, when the garrison of Wark Castle sacked the tower and carried off prisoners and cattle. The castle was successfully defended against the English in 1640, by Sir Andrew Ker of Greenhead. Smailholm was obtained by the Scotts of Harden around this time. The Scotts – ancestors of Sir Walter – rebuilt parts of the tower and
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 ...
. In the 18th century the tower decayed, following the family's move into nearby Sandyknowe. The last owner, the
Earl of Ellesmere Earl of Ellesmere ( ), of Ellesmere in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1846 for the Conservative politician Lord Francis Egerton. He was granted the subsidiary title of Viscount Brac ...
, handed the property into state care in 1950. It was restored in the 1980s, and now operates as a museum.


The tower

Smailholm was a relatively small
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 ...
, offering around 200 m2 of floorspace, later extended by construction of a
hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples we ...
and second kitchen within 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 ...
, or courtyard. The rectangular tower is of four storeys, situated on top of a rocky outcrop. The tower is approximately 12.1 m by 9.4 m, with basalt rubble walls 2.4 m thick. The vaulted basement was originally divided into two floors by a wooden '' éntresol'' reached by a ladder. The door is on the south side, in a large red sandstone arch, with the turnpike stair in the south-east corner. Above the vault is the hall, with a fireplace to the north featuring a carved human face. The top floor has an unusual elliptical stone vault which supports a stone flag roof. Parapet walks run along the longer north and south sides, although both are interrupted – the north by a chimney and the south by a window. These upper parts of the tower, including a gunloop in the west gable covering the barmkin, were remodelled in the 17th century. The tower is surrounded by the remains of a stone barmkin wall, within which the ruins of outbuildings and a small chapel are still visible. The east part of the barmkin once contained a small garden, all of which is now gone. The western barmkin is more intact, with walls up to first floor level around the narrow entrance in the west wall. The courtyard, around 16 m by 19 m, contains the foundations of a single-storey hall house of the 17th century to the north, and a two-roomed kitchen block to the south. A ditch protects the western approach to the tower, the other three sides being naturally protected by the face of the outcrop. One hundred metres to the southeast, more earthworks mark the presence of a much older settlement, probably dating from the first millennium BC. Smailholm Tower is now used to display an extensive array of model people illustrating the history of Smailholm and the stories of Walter Scott, a display created by two local artists and employing high-quality embroidery and modelling techniques. From 2006 experiments were conducted on the roof to establish the most suitable damp-proofing method to apply to other such properties, including the planting of turf or mats of sedum plants. As a result of this, a restoration project in 2010/11 reinstated a turf roof over the entire structure.


Sir Walter Scott

The tower provided inspiration to Sir
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
, who visited his paternal grandfather here when still a boy. Scott spent considerable time at the tower during his youth, reportedly for the benefit of his health. Smailholm provides the setting for Scott's ballad ''The Eve of St John'', and also appears in '' Marmion''. As a result of Scott's poetry, his uncle restored the tower, making it safe, around 1800.
Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...
visited Smailholm with Scott in the author's later years; his sketch of the tower was included in Scott's ''Poetical Works''. Turner's journey with Scott traced scenes from Marmion, and not long after this, the pioneer of photography
Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE FRAS (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 1 ...
repeated Turner's itinerary, publishing what is considered to be the first photographic travelogue or tourist coffee-table book, ''Sun Pictures in Scotland'' in homage to both Scott and Turner.


In popular culture

Smailholm Tower was the centerpiece of the children's adventure novel ''In the Keep of Time'' by Margaret J. Anderson, in which four English children staying with their aged Aunt Grace travel through time by means of a magical key, first to the time of James II, then to a future after the fall of civilization. It also features in the book ''Smailhom'' by C.L. Williams, in which thirteen-year-old Wynn discovers a miniature village hidden close to Smailholm Tower.


See also

* Clan Pringle * Brotherstone Hill *
List of places in the Scottish Borders ''Map of places in the Scottish Borders compiled from this list'':See the list of places in Scotland for places in other counties. This list of places in the Scottish Borders includes towns, villages, hamlets, castles, golf courses, historic hous ...
*
List of places in Scotland This list of places in Scotland is a complete collection of lists of places in Scotland. *List of burghs in Scotland * List of census localities in Scotland *List of islands of Scotland ** List of Shetland islands **List of Orkney islands **List ...
*
Castles in Scotland Scottish castles are buildings that combine fortifications and residence, built within the borders of modern Scotland. Castles arrived in Scotland with the introduction of feudalism in the twelfth century. Initially these were wooden motte-and- ...


Notes


References

* Coventry, Martin ''The Castles of Scotland (3rd Edition)'', Goblinshead, 2001 * Lindsay, Maurice ''The Castles of Scotland'', Constable & Co. 1986 * Salter, Mike ''The Castles of Lothian and the Borders'', Folly Publications, 1994 * Tabraham, Chris ''Scotland's Castles'', BT Batsford/Historic Scotland, 1997 * *
National Monuments Record of Scotland The National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) was the term used for the archive of the sites, monuments and buildings of Scotland's past maintained by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The Commission was ...
Site Reference NT63SW


External links

* Historic Environment Scotland
Visitor guide

The Clan Pringle Website - www.smailholm.com & www.clanpringle.org.uk

Smailholm Tower panorama
{{Castles in the Scottish Borders Houses completed in the 16th century Towers completed in the 16th century Peel towers in the Scottish Borders Listed castles in Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in the Scottish Borders 15th-century establishments in Scotland Historic Scotland properties in the Scottish Borders Tower houses in Scotland