Lennox Tower is a ruinous fifteenth-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 ...

at Lymphoy, near the

Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing near central Edinburgh, Scotland, and flows into the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The name ''Leith'' may be of Britto ...

, between

Balerno Balerno (; gd, Baile Àirneach, IPA: �paleˈɛːɾʲnəx Scots: Balerno or Balernie) is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre, next to Currie and then Juniper Green. Traditionally in the cou ...

and

Currie Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...

, south-west of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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 ...

History

The tower was built by the

Earls of Lennox The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the region of the Lennox in western Scotland. It was first created in the 12th century for David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and later held by the Stewart dynasty. Ancient earls The first earl ...

, who belonged to the Stewart family. It was known as "Lumphoy" or "Lymphoy."

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 ...

and

Regent Morton James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (c. 1516 – 2 June 1581, aged 65) was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he won the civil war that had b ...

visited the castle, while

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 ...

used it as a base for hunting. He dined there on 18 April 1598. It was later acquired by

George Heriot George Heriot (15 June 1563 – 12 February 1624) was a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He is chiefly remembered today as the founder of George Heriot's School, a large independent school in Edinburgh; his name has also been given to H ...

, the goldsmith and founder of

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff ...

. The castle became so ruinous that at one stage it became a rock garden.

Description

The structure a rectangular tower containing a narrow spiral staircase. The only part remaining intact is the basement, the entrance of which is in the north-east corner, and the base of a turnpike stair. The north and west walls of the tower are about high, while the other two sides are less than . There was a tunnel from the building to Colinton Tower which was accessible until the 19th century. The castle is on a promontory. There is a ditch to the south of this, about two metres deep, where an inner rampart may have been. It is thought that a

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 Engla ...

once surrounded the site, while other buildings probably stood between the tower and the ditch.

Tradition

The tower is said to be haunted by a white lady. The tradition is that she is the daughter-in-law of the family at Lymphoy House. After her husband died in battle she turned to his family, who had never approved of her, for help. When they rejected her she, and her child, died in the snow. A white lady has been seen gliding around the area several times since.

Related websites

Photograph of Lennox Tower

References

{{coord , 55.889, N, 3.3238, W, display=title Houses completed in the 15th century Towers completed in the 15th century Castles in Edinburgh Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Listed castles in Scotland 15th century in Scotland Reportedly haunted locations in Edinburgh