History
In 1550, the lordship of Kirkcunzeon passed from the Herries family to the Maxwells of Caerlaverock, when a son of Lord Maxwell married Agnes Herries. The couple may have built Drumcoltran Tower soon after. It possibly began as a simple rectangular tower, with a projecting wing added at the end of the 1500s, including a new entrance and the spiral stair. But the building history is not clear.
Drumcoltran Tower has always had a close association with farming and the land. In 1668 the Inglis family acquired the tower, and a descendant built the current nearby farmhouse and steading in the 1700s. The tower was home to farm servants until its abandonment in the 1800s.
A Jacobean tower
Drumcoltran is a fairly typical towerhouse. The tower consists of three storeys and a garret, with a corbelled parapet at the top. Unusually, its corners are rounded and not angled.
The ground floor is a kitchen and storeroom, while the first floor originally contained the laird’s hall, heated by a huge fireplace. This large room was later divided and a second fireplace added. Most of the window openings were enlarged in the 1700s.
