Drumlanrig’s
Tower is quite a unique towerhouse regarding its location and history. Situated in the
heart of Hawick, it was for many years part of the Tower Hotel until it closed in the
1990s and opened in 1995 as a tourist and interpretative centre.
William Douglas erected the
‘Black Tower of Drumlanrig’ in the 16th century, as an L-planned building with a
small courtyard walled off in the re-entrant. In the 18th century the tower was
extended as a ‘townhouse residence of Anne, Duchess of Monmouth and Buccleuch. By
around 1773 it had been converted to the main inn in the town, visited on 22nd
September 1803 by Sir Walter Scott, and William and Dorothy Wordsworth.
The tower is the location for
exhibitions on the history of the Border country, the subjects of which go from Romans to
knitwear, reivers and local history. There is also an exhibition of watercolours by the
artist Tom Scott. |
