Ackergill Tower

Ackergill Tower is a tall, rectangular, five-storey tower dating to the late 15th or early 16th century. The complex has undergone significant alteration and expansion over the centuries, including a cap-house added in 1851-52 by David Bryce, a four-storey wing to the rear built in the early 18th century, and further additions and remodelling by David Bryce during 1851-52. The building is constructed primarily of rubble with ashlar dressings.

The main front of the tower faces southwest and is dominated by the original central tower. A round-headed entrance, added in 1851-52 and featuring cable moulding, is positioned off-centre. Regular windows punctuate the facade, alongside corbelled crenellated bartizans. A square stair turret with a pyramidal roof is located at the northwest, and the 1851-52 cap-house is characterized by paired gabletted dormers and coped end stacks. A crenellated wallhead and cannon water spouts contribute to the overall appearance. A large, 18th-century Y-tracery window is found on the second floor of the southeast elevation of the tower.

A four-storey rear addition, overlooking the sea to the northeast, projects as a wide crowstepped gable, with a central projecting corbelled mural stair at the second and third storey heights. Square, decoratively corbelled and gabled bartizans are present at the third storey, along with crowsteps and an apex stack. To the left and right of the main front are two-storey extensions designed by David Bryce. To the southeast is a two-storey gabled group featuring a corbelled angle turret at first floor level, with a conical roof, a canted window rising the full height into a corbelled gablet, and a tripartite window on the first floor of the main gabled front. To the northwest is an extended, low two-storey range with flat roofs and a crenellated wallhead; a drum tower includes an entrance at its base and slit vents. The building incorporates varied glazing patterns and rainwater goods dated 1852.

The interior is accessed via a doorway into a vaulted ground floor, notable for its ornate cast-iron hinges and fittings. A Baronial oak staircase, constructed in 1851-52, leads to the first-floor landing and to what was formerly the great hall, which was converted into a dining room in 1851 and retains decoration from that time. It features oak panelling, doors, and doorpieces; a compartmented, barrel-vaulted plastered ceiling with decoration and pendants; and bolection-moulded chimney pieces, with a mural gallery above the southeast chimney piece. The southeast wing contains first-floor drawing rooms, one overlooking the sea to the north and the other, larger, looking over the park. Marble chimney pieces and decorative plaster ceiling friezes are present in both. Simple staircases and a mural wheelstair lead to the upper floors and caphouse. The property contains various mid-19th century cast-iron grates.

A crenellated garden wall divides the park from the sea, extending to both sides of the mansion, with a section linking the service wing with a walled garden and a long, low stable and carriage house range. A small square sundial stands on a shaped plinth. The stable range, also by David Bryce (1851-52), is an extensive single-storey and attic range with a central court entered through an archway with a crenellated overthrow. Largely devoid of original fittings, the stable range is constructed from rubble with tooled dressings, crowstepped gables, and end and ridge stacks.