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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 718987
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/718987
NT53NE 3.00 57205 38250
NT53NE 3.01 NT 5721 3824 Cottage
(NT 5720 3824) Tower (NR) (rems of)
OS 6" map (1967)
Rhymer's Tower: The ruins of the tower or castle of Thomas the Rhymer stand near the W end of Earlston village. Part of the W and N walls still stand. A small thatched cottage occupies part of the site.
Name Book 1857
The SW wall, standing to a height of about 20 ft, and part of the W wall of this small keep remain. It was originally rectangular on plan, with a frontage of 23 ft and walls 4 ft thick. The lower chamber has been vaulted. Though this tower is traditionally said to have been the residence of Thomas the Rhymer, otherwise Thomas of Ercildoune (13th century), it is of much later date.
RCAHMS 1915, visited 1908
The remains of this typical 16th century border peel are as described by the RCAHMS. The SW and W walls measure 7.1 m and 2.9 m long respectively and vary between 5.0 m and 0.7 m in height.
Visited by OS (JD) 19 May 1955
NT 571 382 A watching brief was undertaken by Scotia Archaeology Ltd during the machine excavation of trenches prior to the proposed construction of an extension to a restaurant/cafe, some 7m SE of the ruined tower house. Removal of 0.5m of topsoil from an area measuring 14m E-W by 3.5-5.5m wide, and the excavation of test pits along the lines of the proposed wall foundations did not reveal any features or deposits contemporary with the occupation of the tower. The only structure to be uncovered was the fragmentary rubble wall foundation of a 19th-century cottage.
Sponsor: J McKee
A Barlow 1996
