Tower House

Tower House is a bastle, now functioning as a house, dating from the late 16th century, with a rear outshut added in the late 18th to early 19th century. The building features large, roughly-squared stones, a roof covered with graduated stone tiles on the front and purple slates on the rear, and stone chimney stacks. Original entrances on the left gable end and first-floor rear have been blocked. The structure is two storeys high with two bays, and has a massive boulder plinth at the front and sides, along with huge roughly-squared quoins.

The front has late 19th-century openings, including a replaced door in a flush surround with alternating jambs on the right and replaced sash windows. There are also small blocked window openings that can only be seen from inside. The roof is steeply pitched with overhanging eaves, and features large square-plan end stacks with top ledges and water tables; the left end stack has a re-set head corbel above the ledge. The left return includes a roll-moulded, square-headed doorway with alternating jambs and a massive lintel, with a chimney flue on a stone relieving arch behind the doorway, as well as a blocked loop towards the rear and a small blocked opening above. The added rear outshut has late 20th-century fenestration and a steeply-pitched pent roof, which is interrupted on the left by a horizontal dormer window.

Inside, the walls are approximately 1.5 metres thick, with wide stone chimney flues on both gable ends and several small blocked window openings with internal splays. The ground-floor room features adzed ceiling beams and a spiral stone stair to the right of the front door, which is likely original and possibly unique for a bastle-house. The first floor has two rooms with heavy scantling ceiling beams; the room on the right has a blocked doorway at the rear. The roof includes a heavy A-frame truss on a cambered tie beam, with blocked loops in the attic flanking both chimney flues. A single-storey shed on the right return is not of special interest.

Overall, Tower House is a well-preserved bastle that features a possibly unique spiral stone stair.