Elshieleshields Tower

Elshieleshields Tower is a 16th century L-plan tower house with an altered early 18th century 5-bay house adjoining its west gable and connecting at the upper floors. The tower is harled with red ashlar dressings, while the house is rendered and has red ashlar dressings. Both have slate roofs.

The tower likely dates to around 1567, possibly incorporating a previous rectangular tower from 1420. It is three storeys high with an attic, and a jamb (a projecting section at the east end of the north wall) rises two storeys higher. A stair turret is corbelled from near the main eaves level in the re-entrant angle of the jamb, and conical-roofed bartizans (turrets) are positioned over the remaining three angles. Some openings feature roll mouldings, and the gables have a crow-stepped design. A doorway is located in the re-entrant angle of the jamb, with a decorative panel recess above it. A wheel stair (a staircase running around a central well) fills the lower storeys of the jamb, with small chambers above, decorated with rope and billet mouldings. A corbelled beacon platform sits over the south gable, and a finial tops the north gable. The tower's basement is vaulted and there is evidence of a possible original door at first floor level on the east gable, with a panel recess above. The elevations have irregularly arranged openings, with a single wallhead dormer on the south side. Coped end stacks are present, with the west stack rebuilt to incorporate flues for the adjoining house. A cusped-headed aumbry (a cupboard) is present on the north wall.

The house was originally two storeys high with five regular and well-proportioned bays. It has chamfered margins. Later alterations, mainly in the late 19th century, included increasing the height to three storeys, adding crow-stepped gables, pedimented dormer heads above the eaves, and canted ground floor windows. A porch, likely from the mid-19th century, has been added. A smaller, gabled rear stair turret is located on the north side. An earlier or mid-19th century porch with a Tudor-arched doorway exists on the north side. Mostly sash windows are present, with the upper south-facing windows featuring a 12-pane glazing pattern. Some original 18th century panelling remains in the ground floor rooms. A low, three-bay recessed wing to the west is in a T-plan and is constructed of red sandstone.

A walled garden lies to the south of the house, enclosed by ashlar-coped rubble-built walls linked to the tower at the east end and to the low wing at the west. Panelled and corniced square gatepiers stand to the south, accompanied by curved quadrants and cast-iron gates with spiked rails. These gate elements date back to the earlier 19th century. A detached coach house range to the north is not included in the listing. The rear door is misidentified as a window in the inventory photographs.