Wreaths Tower

Wreaths Tower is a tower house style castle, many of which can be found in these parts.

I have always been drawn to castles and tower houses, even in such a ruinous state as Wreaths Tower. When we were passing the ruins in the car, I immediately checked my OS map to make sure I wasn't seeing things and there it was.

Only parts of the south and east walls remain of Wreaths Tower. You can see the remnants of the spiral staircase in the south-east corner and a doorway in the south wall.

The tower house looks to have had four floors, which was common for this 1500s design. There would have been a vaulted storage cellar at the ground level, with kitchen and main hall above, then the bed chambers on the upper floors.

Wreaths Tower is thought to have been built by James Douglas, the 4th Earl of Morton who owned the lands in the 1500s, when the structure was built.

The Douglas family were powerful in Scotland and James himself rose to Lord Chancellor of Scotland and inherited the Earldom of Morton from his father-in-law. He was actively involved in the death of David Rizzio, the confidant of Mary, Queen of Scots and later helped force Mary to abdicate from the throne following her imprisonment in Lochleven Castle.

This would not have been James's main residence, as he spend much of his time at Aberdour Castle and Dalkeith House. He had also started to build a new residence, Drochil Castle in Peebles, however it wasn't completed before he went and got himself executed for the murder of Lord Darnley (2nd husband of Mary, Queen of Scots).

After his death, with his wife and daughters being declared mentally unfit, the title passed to his wife's sister's son John Maxwell, 8th Lord Maxwell. The tower house was probably abandoned around 1663, when a newer property in Cavens took precedence.

Please be careful when parking to visit Wreaths Tower as the road is quite narrow.

Once you have visited Wreaths Tower, you may want to check out Southerness Lighthouse or the Thirlstane Arch, both of which are close by.