Aikwood Tower

Aikwood Tower lies on a steep slope overlooking the Ettrick Burn a short distance upstream of Selkirk. A short distance to the north, on Castle Hill, faint earthworks can be seen which represent an earlier fort of some description. It is occupied but available for let as a venue.

The tower is rectangular, and consists of three storeys above the vaulted cellars. Accessed at ground floor level, the doorway enters a small lobby with the winding stair housed within the accommodation area. A door knocked through the gable end accesses a converted single storey domestic range. The stair leads up to the subdivided first floor which contained the laird’s hall and study, and continues up to the bedrooms upstairs. The other courtyard ranges and barmkin wall have been lost.

The earliest mention of the lands of Aikwood is that it was one of the royal hunting lodges of James III in 1455. Early in the minority reign of James V, Aikwood was granted to the Scott family of Harden, who held it into the 20th century, by which time it was used for agricultural storage. Aikwood was then sold to the Duke of Buccleuch. In 1988 restoration of the tower, which had been uninhabited for nearly a century, commenced under the current owners.