Field Visit
Date 12 April 1912
Event ID 1088633
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1088633
Whitslade Tower.
The ruins of this tower are situated about 2 ½ miles to the south-east of Lauder. The site has originally been one of considerable natural strength, having the Leader on the west side and a deep ravine to the north. The existing fragment is a simple oblong on plan (fig. 118) measuring some 25 feet by 16 feet 10 inches within walls averaging 7 feet in thickness. The main entrance has been at the north end of the east wall giving direct access to a vaulted basement lighted by a narrow opening in the south wall. From the south in-go of this doorway a flight of straight steps ascends in the thickness of the south and east walls to the great hall on the first floor. At this level the walls are very much ruined, but indications of windows in the side walls and a fireplace in the north wall can still be seen. A recess adjoining the south-west angle has evidently served as a garderobe having a built flue with an outlet near the ground level. There would appear to have been a wheel-stair formed at the south-west angle leading from the platt at the entrance to the hall to the level of the attic floor above. The upper part of the castle has been reconstructed in the form of a gabled house at a late date. The whole has been originally built of rough rubble, but it is now in a very ruinous state. The quoin-stones within easy reach of the ground have been torn out, and the total height from the ground to the wall-head does not exceed 23 feet.
Whitslade Tower is said to have belonged to a branch of the Lauder family. Unfortunately no details now remain to suggest its approximate date.
RCAHMS 1915, visited 12th April 1912.
OS Map: Ber., xx. SW.
