ABBOT’S TOWER, KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE
Abbot’s Tower, New Abbey, Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway: Before restoration, 1986
The late 16th century Abbot’s Tower was, before its recent reconstruction, an overgrown and fragmentary ruin. The basement vault of the small L-plan tower-house had fallen, encumbering the interior space with debris. The west wall and staircase wing still stood to a height of about 32 ft.
The cap-house of the stair-wing teetered precariously on a pillar of masonry above mounds of fallen rubble. The other walls were completely ruined and despoiled of any dressed stone. The general layout of this typical tower-house was however apparent enough from the remains on the ground.
The overgrown ruins did not, in 1986, appear to be a feasible undertaking for the would-be tower restorer in search of a project. Very little was known about the history of this little tower but recent research, undertaken by the present owner, is beginning to throw some light on this.
Location:
Dumfries and Galloway, New Abbey
OS sheet: 84GR: 973666
Abbots Tower, Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway: After Restoration
Restoration of the tower-house took ten years and was largely the work of the present owner. The ivy that overgrew the ruinous remains was killed first before any clearance work could commence. Remarkably, with its removal, none of the precariously perched structure fell down.
The remarkable workmanship that went into the restoration of the tower-house demonstrates that the skills of the craftsmen and builders of past centuries are by no means extinct.
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