Orchardton Tower

Orchardton Tower is a ruined fortified tower house, built by John Cairns in the mid 1400s and is the only round tower house in Scotland. It can be found on a quiet road in a pretty spot southwest of Dalbeattie.

Still buzzing from our climb up the nearby Screel Hill and Bengairn, and being so close to the Orchardton Tower, we couldn't not visit. As always, the research into the history of the tower would come later.

I found out that the Cairns family was associated with this area of Scotland from the early 1400s. John Cairns, who built Orchardton Tower, was the heir of John Cairns, a customs officer and military engineer who designed King David's Tower at Edinburgh Castle. Designing cool places must have run in the family. John Cairns was given the land at Orchardton in 1456, after James II, with the support of Cairns, managed to overthrow the Earls of Douglas.

John built Orchardton Tower in the late 1450s with a circular design. It was unique structure as these designs had fallen out of fashion after being replaced by the square/rectangular design some 200 years prior.

The tower is 11m high and 9m in diameter. The walls are an impressive 1.8m thick. Although you can't currently access the tower, there is a vaulted cellar on the ground floor. Above this would have been a large room with a fireplace and deep window seats. Above this would have been two further rooms.

The tower was built in the northeast corner of a fortified courtyard, which contained livestock, cellars, and a kitchen. The tower provided living accommodation and was accessed via a staircase from the courtyard to the first floor.

When walking around the outside of the tower, you can see that the doorway has moved locations.

The present north entrance was constructed in the 17th/18th century. The new doorway was formed from what was an existing window and a stone staircase was built.

The storage cellars and other outer buildings are still accessible.

On John's death, his grandson William inherited the land and tower. On William's death in 1558, the estate was partitioned between his three daughters.

Margaret Cairns (Lady Orchardton) married Edward Maxwell, and in 1616 part of Orchardton, including the castle, was sold to Robert Maxwell, who had already bought the other portions of the estate.

In the late 1700's, stones from the castle which adjoined Orchardton Tower were used by Robert Maxwell to construct a manor house a few miles away. Unfortunately, in 1785, Robert Maxwell was declared bankrupt, and the estate was sold to the Douglas family, at which point it was unlikely to have been lived in.

As with many Environment Historic Scotland properties, the tower itself is inaccessible due to unstable masonry. However, it was still worth a visit. There is a parking area for a few cars right next to the tower.

Orchardton Tower is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.