Timpendean Tower (tim-pen-deen) or Typenden Castle as it was once known, is a ruined 15th-century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

near Lanton, around north-west of

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

History

It is built on rising ground between the

River Teviot The River Teviot (; ), or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and is the largest tributary of the River Tweed by catchment area. The Teviot is an important river for wildlife, especially the Atlantic salmon, but ...

and the

Jed Water The Jed Water is a river and a tributary of the River Teviot in the Borders region of Scotland. In total the Jed Water is over long and it falls . It flows into the Teviot near Jedfoot Bridge () two miles north of Jedburgh. Jed Water rises f ...

. It is a simple

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

structure measuring 29 feet by 24 feet with walls. It was a stronghold of the Douglas family and is now a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. The land here, once part of the Bonjedward estate, was long owned by the Douglases, passing from father to son, until it was sold off by George, 12th of Timpendean in 1843 to the Scott family, farmers of Bonjedward. Timpendean Tower was burned by the

Earl of Hertford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

's men in 1545, during the War of the Rough Wooing. Timpendean Entrance

The tower, which is surrounded by much older earthworks, consisted of three floors and a vaulted cellar. There is evidence of a previous addition, which has now disappeared, judging by projecting bond stones on two walls. The east door and basement fireplace are later additions to the original house. The first floor contained the great hall while the second floor consisted of sleeping quarters. Those floors were reached by a circular staircase on the east wall. Part of the nearby earthworks was dammed and filled with water for defensive purposes.

Reference and further reading

External links

RCAHMS CANMORE: Timpendean Tower
{{coord, 55.4963, -2.5784, type:landmark_region:GB-SCB, display=title Castles in the Scottish Borders Towers in Scotland Archaeological sites in the Scottish Borders *Tower Timpendean Scheduled monuments in the Scottish Borders Tower houses in Scotland

History

See also

Reference and further reading

External links