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Publication Account
Date 1995
Event ID 1016730
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016730
The tower is set on a hillock reached bya long flight of steps. It is like a tiny square keep only two storeys high, with a chimney in one gable and a belfry on the other. In the south gable is a stone dated 1655. The ground-floor room is stone vaulted with a tiny door and no windows (a torch is useful); there may have been a latrine under the stone stairs. Upstairs is a single room with tiny windows facing east and west and three shot-holes.Over the fireplace is a stone with the initials MGB. There may have been another latrine in the corner over the stair. The timber of the roof has been restored but the slates and stone coping are old.
It seems that the tower was built as a combined prison (downstairs) and watchtower (upstairs) after a period of considerable unrest during the wars between Royalists and Covenanters. The tower was on the estate of Alexander Brodie of Lethen, a Covenanter, whose house was attacked at least four times, once by Montrose, and twice plundered. The initials MGB may stand for Margaret Grant Brodie, his second wife. The battle of Auldearn took place not far away (see no. 32).
Since the parish church stood down below in the deep ravine of the river Findhorn, a belfry was incorporated in the tower to take the church bell. The church, rebuilt in 1832, is now disused. Detached belfries are unusual, but two still exist at Latheron, Caithness and Clyne, Sutherland. These were built solely as bell towers and are quite different to Ardclach.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Highlands’, (1995).
