[MR] Scottish Tower Houses and English Peel Towers

Garth Groff via Atlantia atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Fri Oct 28 02:25:46 PDT 2016


Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots,

To conclude my discussions on Scottish vernacular architecture, today I 
will chat briefly about tower houses and similar English peel towers.

The Scottish tower house was a castle in miniature, often built and 
lived in by minor lairds or chiefs of small clans. Although they are 
often identified with the border reivers of the 1500s, and many were 
built in the border counties of southern Scotland, some actually predate 
this era and are found throughout the Lowlands, with a few in the 
Highlands as well.

In their simplest form, tower houses were rectangular buildings built 
three or four stories high, usually over a partly excavated cellar 
level. More complicated towers, or additions to existing towers, 
expanded the footprints to "L", "Z", "U" and even "H" shapes. The angles 
allowed doors to be protected by covering fire. Sometimes tower houses 
also had small round corner towers, or turrets extending out from the 
corners on upper floors, which housed stairways. Tower houses built by 
the notoriously left-handed Kerr family (usually pronounced "Carr") had 
stairs that wound in the opposite direction from normal, to give their 
southpaw defenders an advantage over right-handed attackers. Some towers 
had battlements at the roof level, and most had the crow-step end gables 
so typical of Scottish castles. One of the best surviving examples is 
the delightful Claypotts Castle in Dundee, built on the "Z" plan: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claypotts_Castle .

Smailholm Tower near Kelso is typical of the border towers. It was held 
by the Pringles, one of the smaller families of border reivers: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smailholm_Tower .

Kilmahew Castle, family seat of the Napiers for hundreds of years, is a 
small tower house in Dumbartonshire on the north bank of the Clyde. It 
is usually described as 15th century, though it was heavily modified in 
the late 19th century, possibly as a folly or picturesque ruin. A castle 
is thought to have stood on this site from the late 1200s, when the land 
was granted to John le Nae Peer by the Earl of Lennox: 
http://www.scottishcastlesassociation.com/about-us/associated-castles/kilmahew-castle.htm 
. Two other former Napier castles, Merchiston Tower and Culcreuch 
Castle, are or were tower houses: http://www.clannapier.org/naphomes.htm .

Surrounding many of these small castles was a courtyard inside what was 
known as a barmkin wall. This wall, perhaps 12-15 feet high, offered 
little protection against a determined attack in force or by stealth, 
though it might channel attackers through its small gate into a field of 
fire. The barmkin was really more to keep animals from straying and keep 
out casual thieves. Small auxiliary buildings such as forges, stables 
and storehouses were sometimes built against this wall. The castle 
owner's relatives, supporters and tenants would have lived in small 
houses outside the walls and could retreat to the tower house in times 
of danger.

Many tower houses were protected by gun loops at the ground level for 
handguns or cannon. Some of the cannons were actually of rolled leather: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_cannon . While interesting, these 
leather guns post-date our SCA period. (Darn!) Some towers, and also 
full-sized castles, had "artistic" faux gun loops added during 
post-period renovations.

Wikipedia offers a page on tower houses, but its coverage extends to 
similar fortified dwellings in many countries: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_house . The page includes an 
excellent photo of Hallbar Castle in South Lanarkshire, a typical 
Scottish tower house.

A peel tower (or "pele" before spelling was standardized) was the 
English answer to the Scottish tower house. These were erected mainly in 
the three northern English counties which faced the border with 
Scotland. Some were rather substantial structures, approaching the size 
of a modest castle, but others were just small towers of several 
stories. Many peel towers were constructed by, or on the orders of, the 
English Crown to be used as watch towers with warning beacons against 
Scottish attacks. Some were also the homes of local lords and their 
families: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_tower .

St. Andrew's Church in Corbridge, Northumberland, has a rare "vicar's 
pele" tower, in essence a fortified vicarage: 
http://www.discoverchristianengland.org.uk/profile.php?id=1915 (one 
photo will flash by in the slide show).

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, That Crazy Scot



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