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Fulton Tower
Tower House (16th Century)
Site Name Fulton Tower
Classification Tower House (16th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Rule Water; Fulton Farm
Canmore ID 56881
Site Number NT61NW 15
NGR NT 60545 15809
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/56881
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Bedrule
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Roxburgh
- Former County Roxburghshire
NT61NW 15 60545 15809
(NT 60541581) Fulton Tower (NR) (In Ruins).
OS 6" map, Roxburghshire, (1917-38).
Fulton Tower. This small tower-house of the 16th century stands about a mile and a half S of Bedrule, E of the road that flanks Rule Water. It is oblong on plan but for a circular stair-tower projecting from the E. angle and measures 22 ft 9 in. from NW. to SE. by 30 ft 6 in. from NE to SW. Neither of the two surviving storeys has been vaulted, and both are incomplete, their SE wall with the greater part of the stair-tower being demolished. The other walls, however, which are built of roughly coursed harled rubble, stand to an average height of 18 ft. The entrance cannot be traced. On the ground floor there are two oval gun-loops facing NW and a fireplace in the SW gable, while on the floor above can be seen the remains of a window facing NE with a fireplace opposite to it, the latter having a locker in one jamb.
In 1570 Margaret Hume of Cowdenknowes is liferented in the lands of Fulton before her marriage to William Turnbull, son and heir of Thomas Turnbull of Bedrule.
RCAHMS 1956.
As described by the RCAHMS 1956.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 17 February 1967.
Note (2 November 2015)
This monument was delisted and was removed from the list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest.
The structure is still designated as a scheduled monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
Information from Historic Environment Scotland, 2 November 2015
Aerial (2019)
NT 60545 15809 (Canmore ID: 56881) The 16th century tower house of the Hume/Turnbull families stands in permanent pasture and was the subject of a 3D modelling survey. The S wall of the tower no longer survives which helped recording of the internal profiles. Although traces of ancillary structures around the tower remain difficult to interpret, the exercise provided useful information for future surveys of this and other sites in the area.
Archive: 3D modelling at https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/fultons-tower-ea08da5ae240456d8da13abdff8d313b; NRHE (intended)
Funder: Private individual
Tony Hunt and John Dent
(Source: DES Vol 20)
Geophysical Survey (17 May 2024 - 18 May 2024)
Geophysical survey in May 2024 and examination of visualisations derived from Airborne Laser Scanning have recorded the remains of two buildings around Fulton Tower. The area also shows evidence of multiple periods of land use, probably from the medieval period to the present. The geophysical survey comprised 2.69 hectares of gradiometer coverage and 0.09 of earth resistance data in the area around the Tower, but excluding the tower and its immediate vicinity as these are a scheduled monument for which permission to survey was not sought.
The first building lies to the SE of the Tower and parallel to it. It survives as a rather disturbed earthwork measuring overall about 14m from NE to SW by about 8m transversely. The rectangular plan is confirmed by the gradiometer survey data, which also suggests that it was burnt. The second building lies about 45m to the S of the Tower, in an area of very disturbed earthworks amongst which there are hints of a rectangular building. Gradiometer and earth resistance data confirm the presence of a building at this location, and also suggest that it too was burnt.
The area around the Tower contains evidence of a palimpsest of land use, including broad and narrow rig, field boundaries, drains and trackways – both in the geophysical data and the Airborne Laser Scanning visualisations. A full report has been lodged with HES (reference).
Information from HES Archaeological Survey (H. Blake), 13 January 2024
[1] Report
[2] Survey data files
[3] Interpretations
Sbc Note
Visibility: Upstanding building, which may not be intact.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
