Fairburn Tower

Fairburn Tower is a 16th century tower-house with early 17th century additions, situated on a ridge between the Rivers Conon and Orrin. It was restored between 2020 and 2022.

The tower has a narrow, square plan and stands four stories high, including a vaulted basement, with an attic above. The walls are made of lime pointed and harled rubble. Gun-loops can be found at the ground floor level. A projecting tower with a broad circular stair was added to the south side in the 17th century. The attic features crow-stepped gables and corbelled-out turrets at the northeast and southwest corners, along with a corniced apex chimney stack on the stair tower.

Originally, the vaulted basement was not accessible from the outside and could only be reached via a straight stair within the north wall. The projecting stair tower conceals the earlier first-floor entrance doorway, which has a plain moulded surround. The first floor includes the main hall and several mural closets or wall chambers. Each of the upper floors contains one room of the same size as the hall, also with several wall chambers.

The restoration, carried out by Simpson and Brown Architects for the Landmark Trust, transformed the tower into holiday accommodation. During this process, the spiral staircase and conical roof turrets were reintroduced, and the roof was covered with grey slate.

Attached to the east wall of the tower are the roofless remains of a two-roomed thatched cottage, which was still standing in 2022. This cottage contains a large arched fireplace with an oven, likely from an earlier kitchen wing.