Publication Account
Date 1986
Event ID 1017419
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017419
Now partly shrouded in trees, the massive bulk of this exceptionally complete tower once dominated the surrounding flat landscape. It still conveys an impression of grim solidity, its red sandstone masonry adorned only by a corbelled parapet with Irish-style roofed turrets. The overall martial effect, however, is tempered by the adjacent mansion whose presence shows that there has always been more to this position than mere defence. Internally, a roofed tower such as this admirably recreates the setting and atmosphere of home life among the late medieval nobility.
It was built, probably in about the third quarter of the 15th century, by the Murrays of Cockpool, who were descended from Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray and Lord of Nithsdale. Nothing now remains of their earliest residence in this vicinity; this tower formed part of the barony of Cock pool when it was created in 1508, and remained until recently in the possession of the Murrays' descendants, the Earls of Mans fIeld.
The walls of Comlongon are particularly thick. The north wall, in which the entrance (with its wrought iron gate or yett) is placed, is 4.1m in thickness, and is honeycombed with vaulted mural chambers. Some served as bed closets opening off the main rooms; one chamber, entered from the first-floor hall, served a more sinister purpose as guard-room for prison-cells beyond and beneath. The pit-prison is a frightful unlit hole reached through a hatch in the floor of the antechamber.
The layout follows, with variations, a standard late medieval pattern: on the ground floor a vaulted cellar incorporating a well, a circular barrel-recess and a wooden-floored entresol for extra storage; a first-floor hall-kitchen (an especially noteworthy feature), hall and kitchen fireplaces being at opposite ends of the room, doubtless separated by wooden screens; and paired chambers on the second and third floors, all provided with fireplaces, windows with stone benchseats, and latrines. At parapet level there are roofed turrets and a long gallery of late 16th century date.
The focus of chivalric pride was the hall fireplace. It is associated with an ornate aumbry or cupboard in thesouth wall, which has a cusped head formed unevenly in two pieces. The fIreplace is spanned by a wooden lintel, and has moulded jambs and a carved cornice. It is structurally protected by a relieving-arch above, the gap between the arch and the cornice being originally infIlled with clay for heat resistance and flexibility.High on the chimney-breast is a panel bearing a version of the royal alms, flanked by corbels displaying Murray armorials. There are other heraldic corbels in the side-walls, some fairly indistinct.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway’, (1986).
