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The Pringles, who built the tower around 1450,
were a prominent Border family and land owners. The tower is a
20m (65ft) fortified house with walls 2.5m (9 ft) thick. In
its shadow lie the ruined foundations of an outer hall and
kitchen block, discovered during excavations in 1979. The
tower house was the main residence for the laird. The
ground-floor has cellars, the first-floor a hall and the
second-floor a bedchamber with additional rooms in the roof
arch; a stone
catenary.
In 2011 the tower suffered from severe damp in
the roof. It was fixed with a soft cap of 4 tonnes of clay and
living plants, a technique called 'soft capping' [
discussion], which completely cured the leaking roof and gave
a 60% reduction in rainwater running onto the walls. |
