Gilnockie Tower

Gilnockie Tower is a restored 16th century border tower built next to the River Esk. It is the home of the Clan Armstrong Centre and is open to the public at times. It is clearly visible from the A7 and is easy to access. Nearby is an earthwork known as Gilnockie Castle, which is a bank and ditch isolating a higher mound which forms a river promontory. This site is now crossed by the A7, may have guarded a ford, and is assessed as medieval, perhaps the seat of the 13th century Soulis-held barony of Bryntalone. This was long-destroyed by the time that the Armstrong family elected to build a tower at Hollows in 1518.

The area had become lawless, part of what had become known as the “debateable land” because it was a matter of debate whose rule extended here, Scotland’s or England’s. The land which the tower stands on belonged to Canonbie Priory, an Augustinian house whose history is very badly recorded, and which was claimed by Henry VIII and dissolved in the 1540s. In 1528 a tower was destroyed by Lord Dacre, and the priory may have been destroyed in 1542, in which case, the Armstrongs may have just elected to build the tower afterwards. After all, who was to stop them? The tower was granted to the Kerrs in 1619, and then to the earl of Buccleuch, probably with the Armstrongs as sitting tenants. Subsequently all that can be said is that the tower was occupied into the 18th century and then abandoned, remaining a ruin until the restorations of 1979-80.

Clan Armstrong Centre official website

HES Canmore database entry