Hermitage Castle And Attached Retaining Wall Adjoining To South

Hermitage Castle is a folly tower that may be a rebuild of an earlier structure of uncertain purpose. It dates from either 1790 or 1890, based on a fragmentary inscription, although the lowest level is likely older. The castle is primarily constructed of local limestone rubble, with the lowest level featuring coursed stone and ashlar lining internally. It has no remaining floors, roof, or chimney shafts.

The tower has a circular plan with a diameter of approximately 4.5 metres and a height of 13 metres, including a stone stair tower on the south-east side, which gives it an overall ovoid shape. Originally, it had four storeys, with the middle two floors heated. The northern doorway has a segmental head and an external splay with rusty iron spigots. Above this doorway are large window embrasures, also with segmental heads, leading to the main rooms. To the left are smaller windows with pointed-arch heads and the remains of simple hoodmoulds. The lower window is blind, backing onto a fireplace, and features a surviving right label stop inscribed "90," likely indicating a date.

At the top level, on the south-west side, there are remains of a doorway leading onto an artificial terrace atop the cliff, featuring a Tudor arch, although there is a large hole from collapsed masonry on the left side. The stair on the south-east side has tiny windows, and the tops of the walls have collapsed.

Inside, there is a recessed alcove with a roughly parabolic-arch head and a very low segmental arch leading to the stone stairs. The first floor has four segment-headed arches, one leading to the stairs and the others to alcoves, along with the remains of a fireplace. The second floor is similar, featuring one alcove and a fireplace under a brick segmental arch. A stone newel stair runs from the top to the bottom, with evidence showing it once rose to the roof or wall walk.