Near the village of Gordon, in the Borders, Greenknowe Tower is an elegant L-plan tower house, built in 1581. Its dated lintel sums up a whole moment: the one when the Scottish frontier, long bloodied, was beginning to ease and when comfort was already being dared.
A dated and signed tower
Built in 1581 by James Seton and his wife Janet Edmonstone, Greenknowe is an L-plan tower house, a form more intimate than the Z-plan. Its lintel dated 1581 bears their initials (IS / IE) and their arms — the proud signature of the builders. Once surrounded by marshy ground for defence, it keeps its original yett (iron gate) at the entrance, corner bartizans and a vaulted basement with kitchen and meat-hooks. To see: the armorial lintel of 1581, the original yett, the bartizans, the vaulted basement.
Did you know?
Later sold to the Pringles, Greenknowe saw its windows enlarged as the times became safer — lived in until the mid-nineteenth century. The tower thus tells, in its stone, the story of returning peace: fewer gunloops, more light, as the fear of raids receded.
Notes
Greenknowe Tower lies near Gordon, Scottish Borders; a site in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Hours to check.
Quiz
- From when does Greenknowe Tower date?
- From 1581
- From the twelfth century
- From the eighteenth century
- What does its entrance lintel bear?
- The date 1581, the initials and arms of the builders
- A map of Scotland
- A line of Shakespeare
- What is a 'yett'?
- An iron entrance gate
- A walled garden
- A keep