Clan Rising
Gilnockie Tower today

Scotland · Restored

Gilnockie Tower

Gilnockie Tower is a 16th-century rubble-built tower house at Hollows near Canonbie in Dumfriesshire, on the west bank of the River Esk. It is a simple four-storey tower with an attic and crow-stepped gables, long associated with the Armstrong clan and restored in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as a visitor centre and museum.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

1560

Today

Restored

As it stood in 1560

The shape it held in its prime.

A single rectangular, four-storey tower house with an attic, built of irregular pale grey-brown rubble stone; steep crow-stepped gables top the narrow end walls. Small square and slit windows and gun‑loops punctuate the facing, with corbels at the wall-head supporting a parapet walk around the top. A corbelled beacon stance projects from the south gable. The tower measures roughly 10 by 7.6 metres at the base and stands alone on a cleared grassy plot beside the River Esk, approached across a short drive and low stone boundary walls.

Step inside

10 places to explore in 1560.

The record describes 10 distinct spots at Gilnockie Tower — including 5 interiors: vaulted cellar with gun loops, spiral stair in the south‑west corner, great hall (first floor) and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.

Exterior approach across the lawnView from the river bankBasement doorway and carved stoneVaulted cellar with gun loopsSpiral stair in the south‑west cornerGreat Hall (first floor)Upper chamber / master bedroomAttic space between the crow-stepped gablesParapet walk and corbelled wall-headCorbelled beacon stance on the south gable

Create History

See Gilnockie Tower with the fires lit.

The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1560 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.

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