Orchardton Tower

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Well maintained and presented by Historic Scotland, this is the only round fortified tower in southern Scotland - in fact it is almost the only one in Britain, and was not only regarded as a remarkable structure when it was built around 1456, but remains a subject of much curiosity to architectural historians to this day. It is in remarkable shape for such an old structure, still fascinating and fun to visit.

There is a romantic true story about its young heir at the time of the 1745 Rebellion, one Sir Robert Maxwell (!!), who was wounded at Culloden and was about to be executed as a traitor to the English crown - but at the eleventh hour, papers for his commission in the French Army were discovered, sewn into the lining of his jacket for secrecy; as a result he was treated as a prisoner of war rather than a traitor, and survived to inherit the property. His story inspired Sir Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering.

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