Timpendean Tower (tim-pen-deen) or Typenden Castle as it was once known, is a ruined 15th-century

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 ...

near Lanton, around north-west of

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...

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 Lothi ...

History

It is built on rising ground between the River Teviot and the

Jed Water The Jed Water is a river and a tributary of the River Teviot in the Borders region of Scotland. In total the Jed Water is over long and it falls . It flows into the Teviot near Jedfoot Bridge () two miles north of Jedburgh. Jed Water rises fro ...

. It is a simple

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

structure measuring 29 feet by 24 feet with walls. It was a stronghold of the

Douglas family Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

and is now 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 ...

. The land here, once part of the

Bonjedward Bonjedward (Scottish Gaelic: ''Bun Jedward)'' is a hamlet in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, two miles north of Jedburgh where the Jed Water joins the River Teviot. The village stands on a ridge of land formed by the approach of the Teviot ...

estate, was long owned by the Douglases, passing from father to son, until it was sold off by George, 12th of Timpendean in 1843 to the Scott family, farmers of Bonjedward. Timpendean Tower was burned by the

Earl of Hertford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

's men in 1545, during the

War 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 ...

The tower, which is surrounded by much older

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

, consisted of three floors and a vaulted cellar. There is evidence of a previous addition, which has now disappeared, judging by projecting

bond stone A perpend stone, perpend (parpen, parpend, perpin, and other spellings), through stone, bond stone, or tie stone is a stone that extends through an entire wall's width, from the outer to the inner wall. Such stones are especially used to lock two ...

s on two walls. The east door and basement fireplace are later additions to the original house. The first floor contained the great hall while the second floor consisted of sleeping quarters. Those floors were reached by a circular staircase on the east wall. Part of the nearby earthworks was dammed and filled with water for defensive purposes.

Reference and further reading

External links

RCAHMS CANMORE: Timpendean Tower
{{coord, 55.4963, -2.5784, type:landmark_region:GB-SCB, display=title Castles in the Scottish Borders Towers in Scotland Archaeological sites in the Scottish Borders *Tower Timpendean Scheduled Ancient Monuments in the Scottish Borders Tower houses in Scotland

History

See also

Reference and further reading

External links