Although things might be a little different on your visit, you can still enjoy exploring Orchardton Tower.
Find out more about this historic place below.
Journey inside
Orchardton Tower is thought to have been built by John Cairns around 1455. The Cairns family had previously served the Stewart royal dynasty and the Earls of Douglas in various capacities.
We don’t know why John Cairns chose to build his tower on a circular plan. It is likely that it was as much a talking point among his contemporaries as it is today. It is a unique survival as a near free-standing late medieval circular tower.
There is a wall-walk at the top, providing limited protection from intruders. Unusually, the tower’s cellar has no internal link with any other rooms and must be entered from a separate door.
In the hall, a couple of carved stone features have survived to give an idea of the quality of the lost interiors: a trefoil-headed piscine/aumbry to the left of the fireplace and a decorated stone lamp holder by the door to the stair.