Amisfield Tower

The tower stands on an almost square footprint, measured at roughly 9.6 by 8.7 metres, and rises to about 23.5 metres in height, giving four main storeys plus an attic. The structure has a vaulted basement and a principal hall on the first floor, with upper chambers and an attic above. A separate mansion from the 1600s abuts the east side of the tower and was later extended. Lower walling is of rough rubble while the higher dressings, such as corbels and turret work, are in warm red ashlar. The steeply pitched roof is covered in slate and the west gable is finished with stepped crow-steps while the mansion stands against the east wall.

Three corners of the tower carry two-storey turrets, and the fourth corner is formed as a decked projection. A stair projection runs from the first-floor level down to the ground, being rounded for two storeys before corbelling out to form a square upper turret. On the north side two small corner turrets remain with conical roofs. The principal entrance on the south side is protected by a machicolation, and gun-holes and loopholes occur in the upper parts of the walls; the vaulted cellar is lit only by three small gun-openings. Internally the stair-tower gives many rooms an L-shaped plan and the ground-floor vaulted space contains a partitioned chamber that has been interpreted as a guardroom. The roof timbering bears on stone corbels.

Openings and interior fittings survive that speak to domestic use as well as defence. Windows are rectangular and there are gun-loops in the façades; the main hall on the first floor includes a garderobe and three windows. Several rooms have fireplaces, with open hearths recorded on the west side of the first and second floors. Decorative work has been recorded on the upper levels, including a painted frieze on the second floor and a painted border showing lion faces in one chamber. Dog-toothed moulding frames armorial panels and some window surrounds, and dormer windows have forms derived from an older projected defensive window type. An oak entrance door carved with Samson and bearing the Charteris and Herries arms dates to about 1600 and is now conserved in the National Museum of Scotland.