Smailholm Tower

wall in the foreground]] Smailholm Tower was originally built in the 15th century or early 16th century by the Pringle family. This family, originally Hoppringle, who were followers of the Earl of Douglas, held the lands of Smailholm from the early 15th century, and managed part of Ettrick Forest for their feudal superior. In December 1482, James Hoppringill of Smailholm, son of David Hoppingrill, was sued for 300 merks by Margaret Kerr. He married Isobell Murray, their heir was David Hoppringill who married Margaret Lundy, and their eldest son was also called David. Smailholm Tower was designed, in common with all Scottish peel towers, to provide its occupants with protection from sporadic…

Smailholm was a relatively small tower house, offering around 200 m² of floorspace, later extended by construction of a hall house and second kitchen within the barmkin, or courtyard. The rectangular tower is of four storeys, situated on top of a rocky outcrop. The tower is approximately 12.1 m by 9.4 m, with basalt rubble walls 2.4 m thick. The vaulted basement was originally divided into two floors by a wooden entresol reached by a ladder. The door is on the south side, in a large red sandstone arch, with the turnpike stair in the south-east corner. Above the vault is the hall, with a fireplace to the north featuring a carved human face. The top floor has an unusual elliptical…

Smailholm Tower was the centrepiece of the children's adventure novel In the Keep of Time by Margaret J. Anderson, in which four English children staying with their aged Aunt Grace travel through time by means of a magical key, first to the time of James II, then to a future after the fall of civilization. It also features in the book Smailholm by C. L. Williams, in which thirteen-year-old Wynn discovers a miniature village hidden close to Smailholm Tower.