<font color='#000000'>Fourmerkland Tower Ordnance Survey Map Reference NX 909807

 

Fourmerkland is a small tower erected in the late 16th century.  It stands near the Kircudbright border, half a mile west of Irongray in the county of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.  The tower is built of warm red rubble and has bartizans crowning the north-east and south-west corners.  A heraldic panel above the doorway facing east has date 1590 with the Maxwell arms, and the initials R.M. and I.G. for Robert Maxwell and his wife, but the foundations are known to be older.

 

 

Fourmerkland Tower, from the east (August 1998)

 

The door opens into the well of the spiral staircase, which rises in the south-west corner of the tower.  From this doorway the vaulted basement kitchen is reached.  On the first floor is the hall, well lit by four windows, and containing with three aumbries.  The floor above is very similar, and beyond that is the attic from which one gains access to the two tiny chambers in the turrets.  The tower stands on private land and is not open to the public.  It and the small knoll upon which it stands, measuring approximately 20m square, are entirely surrounded by trees and overlook a small pond.  The tower itself measures about 7.2m by 5.8m externally.  It is said that in certain lighting conditions it is possible to see the position and extent of the barmkin wall round the tower.

 

Fourmerkland is unoccupied, its last tenant having been the village schoolmaster, and is in a good state of preservation.  The land around it is marshy, and no doubt the site was a strong one for this reason.  A branch of the powerful Maxwell family acquired these lands from Holywood Abbey at the time of the Reformation.  The tower is close to the Johnstone lands of Annandale, and would have been the scene of much feuding between the Maxwells and the Johnstones.  By 1720, Fourmerkland was in the hands of Robert Fergusson, who purchased the patronage of the parish of Holywood.  The tower remained inhabited until 1896 and was allowed to fall into decay, but extensive repairs were carried out in 1964.

There is a track on the north side of the road, about two miles west of the A76 at Holywood, at Fourmerkland Farm (map reference NX 909805). It runs round the south and west sides of the woodland before entering it.

Permission to view the tower should be obtained from the farmer at Fourmerkland Farm, as it stand on private land and is not open to the general public.

 

Bibliography

 

Hubert Fenwick : Scotland's Castles : Robert Hale Ltd., 1976

D. Ronald Macgregor : Castles of Scotland – A Collins Map : William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., First Edition, 1974; Revised Edition, 1975

Mike Salter : Discovering Scottish Castles : Shire Publications Ltd., 1985

Mike Salter : The Castles of South-West Scotland : Folly Publications, November 1993

Nigel Tranter : The Fortified House in Scotland - Volume 3, South-West Scotland : James Thin, First Edition, 1962; Reprinted, 1986

Brian Wakefield : A-Z of Scottish Castles : W & W Publishers, 1988</font>

From Canmore;

 

NX98SW 3 9085 8075.

 

(NX 9085 8075) Fourmerkland Tower (NR)

OS 6" map (1969)

 

Fourmerkland Tower is complete and in good repair, though unoccupied. Measuring 23 1/2 ft by 19 ft externally, it stands three storeys and an attic in height, with angle- turrets at the NE and SW corners. A heraldic panel above the door is dated '1590'. The foundations, however, are known to be older (A E Truckell 1961).

D MacGibbon and T Ross 1889; RCAHMS 1920, visited 1912; N Tranter 1965

 

As described above. Extensive repairs were being carried out at the time of visit.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 29 June 1964

 

In certain lighting conditions it is possible to see the position and extent of the barmkin wall round the tower. The area enclosed measures approximately 20 m square.

A E Truckell 1971

 

NX98SW 4 9128 8046.

 

There is a small rectangular crop-mark at NX 9128 8046, with an entrance in the S, which looks Roman although the fact that its sides are parallel with the surrounding field boundaries suggests that it is a modern agricultural feature.

(Undated) information in NMRS.

 

No trace seen on ground.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 29 June 1964.

NX98SW 5 centred 9150 8005

 

See also NX98SW 66 and 67.

 

(NX 9150 8005) A Roman marching camp, nearly square, occupies part of a level summit bounded to the S by the river and to the N and E by marshy ground.

When visited, there were no traces of this camp on the surface.

Information from J K St Joseph 1949, visited 4 September 1949.

 

No trace visible on ground. Area mainly under crop at time of visit.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 29 June 1964

 

A Roman Temporary Camp is visible as cropmarks on air photographs.

(Undated) information in NMRS.

 

Scheduled (with NX98SW 66 and 67) as Burnside of Baltersan, ring ditch, pits and Roman camp.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 11 May 1993.

From MacGibbon & Ross;

 

 

Another of my favourites. Many thanks Gordon.