Bonshaw Tower is an oblong tower house, probably dating from the mid-16th century, [1] one mile south of Kirtlebridge, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, above the Kirtle Water. [2] It is adjacent to a 19th-century mansion. [2] The tower was one of a number of structures built along the Scottish border in the 1500s as protection against incursions by the English. [3]
Bonshaw, one of the ancient Irving border towers, was owned for centuries by the Irvings of Bonshaw; it was the family seat in an unbroken succession. That ended in 1954, on the death of Sir Robert Beaufin Irving, a former captain of RMS Queen Mary. [4] Bonshaw passed to Sir Robert's nephew, Commander G. R. I. Irving RN, who sold it to a descendant of the Irvings of Wysebie. In subsequent years, it was purchased by "a junior line within the Irvings of Gribton & Dumfries, a distant branch of the Irvings of Bonshaw", according to the Clan Irving web site. [5]
Historical summaries indicates that the tower was built ca. 1570 and was burned and then blown up by the English in the same century, but was later rebuilt. Records discuss several battles in and around the property during that century. The two-story house attached to the tower was built c.1770 but was increased in size starting in the 1840s, according to The Castles of Scotland. King James VI visited Bonshaw, in 1601 or 1602 when it was known as "Boneschaw". [6] [7] [8]
Historical records also speak of an earlier Bonshaw Tower, in 1298, for example, when Robert the Bruce took refuge there; the owner at the time was shown as Sir William de Irving. [9]
A travelogue from 1873 discusses the seat of the Clan, a very well preserved tower and a "plain, modern house, built during the last century". [10]
After retiring as Commodore of the Cunard-White Star Line, Captain Sir Robert Beaufin Irving, Chief of Clan Irving, lived in the Tower from 1944 until his death in 1954. [11]
The property has been Category-A listed since 1971, as a tower house with courtyard walls. The listing indicates that the tower was probably built in the mid 1500s, with additions in 1841/1842. In 1896 the tower was linked to the house with a "low corridor". The "crenellated low wall" was rebuilt in 1895, although earlier repairs were apparent, through the use of stones from the 16th and 17th century. [12]
By the 21st century, the property was still owned by members of the Irving family and was the family home. However, the tower and/or the gardens were available as a venue for weddings and other events. [13] [8]
The castle, which is habitable, has three storeys, and a garret, [2] with crow-stepped gables, [1] within a parapet. [2] The north-facing former attic light is now used as an open belfry. [1]
Inside a modern porch is the entrance door, with the motto SOLI DEO HONOR ET GLORIA above. [2] There is a monogrammed pendant boss[ clarification needed ] within the doorway. [1] A vaulted entrance passage in the thickness of the wall leads to a vaulted basement. [2] Each wall has a splayed shot-hole. The south-west angle contains a windowless dungeon, with a ventilation flue. There is a hatch in the vaulting to the first-floor Hall. From the north-east angle of the cellar a turnpike stair leads to all storeys of the tower. [2]
The hall has a wide fireplace and four windows. There are two aumbries in the jambs while a third aumbry has an ogival lintel. [2]
The bedroom, on the second floor, has a wall press and a garderobe. One of its four windows is high in the wall. [2]
There is a machicolated opening about each embrasure of the parapet, which is drained by gargoyled cannon-spouts. The present pitched slate roof was installed in the early 19th century, as the flagstones of the original roof were removed to floor a farmhouse. [2]
Drum Castle is a castle near Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. For centuries it was the seat of the chief of Clan Irvine. The place-name Drum is derived from Gaelic druim, 'ridge'. The site is located approximately 6+1⁄2 miles northeast of Banchory and 3 miles west of Peterculter. The property is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public.
Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is three miles (4.8 km) south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. The Preston family of Craigmillar, the local feudal barons, began building the castle in the late 14th century and building works continued through the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1660, the castle was sold to Sir John Gilmour, Lord President of the Court of Session, who breathed new life into the ageing castle. The Gilmours left Craigmillar in the 18th century for a more modern residence, nearby Inch House, and the castle fell into ruin. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument, and is open to the public.
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Closeburn Castle is a privately owned tower house, probably of the 14th century, but possibly older, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited houses in Scotland. The castle is located 1 km east of the village of Closeburn, in the historical county of Dumfriesshire, 2 km south-east of Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
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Amisfield Tower is a well-preserved tower house near Tinwald, about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. The castle has also been known as Hempisfield Tower. It is a Category A listed building.
Barholm Castle is a tower house located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Gatehouse of Fleet, in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway, Scotland. The tower dates back to the late 15th century, and it was a stronghold of a branch of the MacCulloch family. The present form of the castle dates from rebuilding in the 16th or 17th century, and in the early 2000s it was restored from a roofless state to residential use. The tower is sometimes identified with the fictional Ellangowan, in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering.
Bavelaw Castle is a historic house in the City of Edinburgh Council area, Scotland. It is north of Hare Hill in the Pentland Hills, four miles west of Penicuik, and two miles south of Balerno, above Threipmuir Reservoir. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971.
Torthorwald Castle is a large ruined rectangular tower at the centre of the village of Torthorwald just outside Dumfries in south west Scotland.
The Repentance Tower is a very rare example of a mid-16th century watch tower standing on Trailtrow Hill, six miles north-west of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway. Built in 1565 by John Maxwell, the tower takes its name from an inscription Repentance carved on the stonework above the entrance door.
Affleck Castle, also known as Auchenleck Castle, is a tall L-plan tower house dating from the 15th century, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Monifieth and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Monikie Parish Church, Angus, Scotland. It is a scheduled monument. It is not open to the public.
Kinnairdy Castle is a tower house, having five storeys and a garret, two miles south of Aberchirder, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The alternative name is Old Kinnairdy.
Killochan Castle is a 16th-century L-plan tower house about 3 miles (4.8 km) north east of Girvan, South Ayrshire, Scotland, north of the Water of Girvan, and south of Burnhead.
Coxton Tower is a late sixteenth-century tower house in Moray, Scotland. Heavily fortified, it was built around 1590, with substantive repairs in 1635 and 1645, but its design is reminiscent of much older buildings. It has not been occupied since around 1867 except to house Canadian soldiers during the Second World War, but was renovated in 2001 to help protect the fabric of the structure, which is designated a Category A listed building.
Plunton Castle is a ruined L-plan tower house between Kirkandrews and Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built around 1575 for the Lennoxes of Plunton, it passed by marriage to the Murrays of Broughton in the late 17th century. It was still inhabited in 1684, when it was described by Reverend Symson in his Large Description of Galloway as "a good strong house", but by 1838, when it was painted by George Colomb, it had been abandoned and had fallen into a ruinous condition.
Hills Tower is a sixteenth-century square tower house, with an adjoining eighteenth-century wing, near Dumfries in Scotland. Originally built around 1527 for Edward Maxwell, who had purchased the estate from James Douglas of Drumlanrig, it was improved in the later sixteenth century by his grandson, also Edward Maxwell. In 1721, another Edward Maxwell had a two-storey Georgian wing added to the tower's east side, using stone taken from older buildings nearby, and incorporating armorial panels celebrating members of the Maxwell family.
Earlstoun Castle, sometimes spelled Earlston Castle, is a derelict tower house near St John's Town of Dalry in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built in the late sixteenth century, it was home to members of the Gordon family, including William Gordon of Earlston who was killed at the battle of Bothwell Bridge. It is unusual for a tower house of its age for its lack of defensive arrangements: it has no gun loops, its roof is without a parapet or corner turrets, and it lies in open ground without natural defences.
Captain Sir Robert Beaufin Irving OBE was a Scottish officer of the Royal Naval Reserve and the British Merchant Navy.
