Scotland · Ruin
Sorbie Tower
Sorbie Tower is a late-16th-century fortified L-plan tower house near the village of Sorbie in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It was the ancestral seat of Clan Hannay and today survives to about second-floor level as a scheduled monument, accessible to visitors by arrangement.
Its prime
1600
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1600
What Sorbie Tower looked like in its prime.
A rubble-built L-shaped tower house rising to roughly three storeys with a tall gabled end; walls of irregular grey stone with small rectangular and narrow slit windows puncturing the façades. The roof and gable were intact in its prime, but there is no continuous wall-walk or crenellated parapet. The building stands alone on a trimmed grassy plot backed by a stand of coniferous trees, with corbelled masonry at the angle where the shorter wing returns.
Its story
The story of Sorbie Tower.
Sorbie Tower, a mile east of the village of Sorbie in Dumfries and Galloway, is the ancient seat of Clan Hannay. The L-plan tower was rubble-built in the late sixteenth century, possibly by Patrick Hannay, the poet and courtier at the court of James VI was a member of this family. It was sold to the Earl of Galloway in 1677, and when the last of the line died in 1748 the tower became ruinous.
In 1965 its owner gave the tower back to Clan Hannay. It stands to second-floor level, though notably for a building of this kind it has no wall-walk or parapet, and is a scheduled monument, with plans for restoration. The exterior can be viewed free of charge, and access inside can be arranged through the village shop in Garlieston.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1600.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Sorbie Tower, including 1 interior: second-floor chamber (main living hall). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Sorbie Tower with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1600, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Sorbie Tower.
The families that held Sorbie Tower for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Hannay
Ancient seat of Clan Hannay, built in the late sixteenth century; sold to the Earl of Galloway in 1677 and returned to the clan in 1965.
