Description

The monument comprises the fragmentary remains of Langholm Castle, a tower-house built for the Armstrongs in the early 16th century in a defensive position at the confluence of the River Esk and Ewes Water.

The above-ground structures consist of part of the S gable of a former rectangular tower and short sections of the adjoining E and W walls. The S wall stands to a height of 6m and incorporates a gun port and a window opening. The castle was largely demolished in 1725 and demolition rubble has accumulated in and around the ruined tower giving the impression that the walls now stand on a turf-covered mound. The rubble almost certainly overlies additional evidence for the castle's history as do the linear scarps and depressions which lie to the E and W of the mound and which doubtless indicate the site of ancillary buildings. To the SW of the mound, running parallel to the Ewes Water, can be discerned the faint traces of a bank and ditch.

The area to be scheduled is an irregular pentagon on plan, with maximum dimensions of 150m NW-SE by 160m E-W, to include the upstanding remains of the tower and an area around it within which the presence of several linear scarps and depressions indicates the existence of associated features. The boundary runs as follows: from its N-most point (which lies 40m ENE of the N corner of the fence which surrounds the castle) for 80m in a SE direction, then SW for 90m before turning WNW for 120m, then NNE for 70m before turning due E for 100m to return to the starting point; all as marked in red on the accompanying map extract. Excluded from the scheduling are the above-ground sections of the fence surrounding the castle and also the information board.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

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Source: Historic Environment Scotland