the ancestral home of the Armstrong Clan. The tower Gilnockie Tower is a simple rubble-built tower house of four storeys plus an attic, measuring around 10 by 7.6 metres at the base. The basement comprises a vaulted cellar, with gun loops to south, west and north. A spiral stair in the south-west corner leads up to the first floor, devoted to a hall. Above this are two further rooms, with the attic space above between the crow-stepped gables. At the top of the wall, corbels show the presence of a parapet walk. During the repair programme carried out between 2015 and 2018, the walkway was sympathetically brought up to date to meet safety standards. This included the installation of a safety fence. A notable feature is the beacon stance, corbelled out from the south gable at the highest point of the building. The oldest part of the tower is thought to be the large stone by the doorway into the basement. Carvings of spirals and a key-like symbol are believed to date from the 2nd millennium BC, with the slab having been reused in the building. Gilnockie Castle The site now known as Gilnockie Castle lies near Canonbie at the east end of Gilnockie Bridge, which crosses the Esk in Hollows, just 500 m to the south east (). Today, only an earthwork remains, and there is some doubt as to whether a tower stood there, although it is possible that the earlier tower destroyed in 1528 was located there. It is associated with Johnnie Armstrong, Laird of Gilnockie. See also William Armstrong, one-time owner of the castle References Coventry, Martin The Castles of Scotland (3rd Edition), Goblinshead, 2001 Gifford, John The Buildings of Scotland: Dumfries and Galloway, Penguin, 1996 Maxwell-Irving, A. M. T. (2000) The Border Towers of Scotland, Creedon Publications Salter, Mike The Castles of South West Scotland, Folly Publications, 1993 National Monuments Record of Scotland Site Reference NY37NE 3.0 (Gilnockie Tower) NMRS Site Reference NY37NE 4.0 (Gilnockie Castle) External links Prehistoric Rock Art in Gilnockie Tower Spiral Stairs https://www.gilnockietower.co.uk Gilnockie Tower Reiver Centre, Canonbie Castles in Dumfries and Galloway Category A listed buildings in Dumfries and Galloway Listed castles in Scotland Tower houses in Scotland