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Bandon Tower
Tower House (Medieval)
Site Name Bandon Tower
Classification Tower House (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Balbirnie Estate; Ballindone; Banedone
Canmore ID 29969
Site Number NO20SE 3
NGR NO 27671 04250
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/29969
- Council Fife
- Parish Markinch
- Former Region Fife
- Former District Kirkcaldy
- Former County Fife
NO20SE 3.00 27671 04250
(NO 2768 0424) Bandon Tower (NR) (In Ruins)
OS 6" map (1947).
NO20SE 3.01 NO 2767 0410 Farm
A rectangular tower c 31'.0" by 22'.0" with the remains of a small circular tower at the NW corner, which appears later than the main building. There have been three floors and an attic each containing a single chamber the ground floor chamber being vaulted. The walls 3'9" thick are in ruinous condition and the building does not look earlier than the end of the 16th century.
D MacGibbon and T Ross 1897; RCAHMS 1933
Along the N wall and fragements of the other three walls and the circular tower survive.
Visited by OS (RD), 13 April 1972.
See also NO20SE 3.01 Bandon Steading
Field Visit (9 June 1927)
Bandon Tower.
This ruin stands in a cultivated field 2 miles north-north-west of Markinch. It represents an oblong tower of the 16th century, measuring 31 by 22 ½ feet externally, to the north-west corner of which a small round tower has subsequently been attached. In height there have been three floors and an attic, each containing a single chamber; the ground floor has been vaulted, but the vault has fallen. The walls are breached in places, and on the ground floor the interior is filled with debris. The masonry is of rubble, roughly coursed, with dressings at quoins and openings. The parapet has been borne on spaced corbels of two members, a few of which remain on each wall. The corners have no "rounds".
HISTORICAL NOTE. - In 1498 Alan Balfour of Bandon ("Ballindone") conveyed the estate to his eldest son (1). David Balfour of "Banedone" is among the witnesses to a charter of 1580 (2).
RCAHMS 1933, visited 9 June 1927.
(1) Reg. Mag. Sig., s.a., No. 2404. (2) Ibid., s.a., No. 3019.
