Bonshaw Tower

Bonshaw, one of the ancient Irving border towers, was owned for centuries by the Irvings of Bonshaw; it was the family seat in an unbroken succession. That ended in 1954, on the death of Sir Robert Beaufin Irving, a former captain of . Bonshaw passed to Sir Robert's nephew, Commander G. R. I. Irving RN, who sold it to a descendant of the Irvings of Wysebie. In subsequent years, it was purchased by "a junior line within the Irvings of Gribton & Dumfries, a distant branch of the Irvings of Bonshaw", according to the Clan Irving web site. Historical summaries indicates that the tower was built ca. 1570 and was burned and then blown up by the English in the same century, but was later rebuilt.…

The castle, which is habitable, has three storeys, and a garret, with crow-stepped gables, within a parapet. The north-facing former attic light is now used as an open belfry. Inside a modern porch is the entrance door, with the motto SOLI DEO HONOR ET GLORIA above. There is a monogrammed pendant boss within the doorway. A vaulted entrance passage in the thickness of the wall leads to a vaulted basement. Each wall has a splayed shot-hole. The south-west angle contains a windowless dungeon, with a ventilation flue. There is a hatch in the vaulting to the first-floor Hall. From the north-east angle of the cellar a turnpike stair leads to all storeys of the tower. The hall has a wide fireplace…