Mangerton Tower, Medieval tower house in Scottish Borders, Scotland
Mangerton Tower is a tower house ruin in the Scottish Borders with portions of its ground floor still standing against the landscape. The remaining stonework shows the sturdy construction of border fortifications, with walls reaching roughly 8 feet at their highest point in the southwest corner.
The Armstrong family established themselves at this tower in the 14th century and held it through centuries of border turbulence. Control of the property passed to the Scott family in the early 17th century as regional conflicts began to ease.
The coat of arms on the western wall tells the story of the families who called this place home and their ties to the border region. The inscriptions carved into stone speak to the connections between local clans that shaped life in this remote area.
The ruins can be reached on foot via walking paths that start from the nearby village and lead through the surrounding moorland. The approach on foot allows visitors to take in the landscape and understand how isolated this location once was.
The structure endured repeated destruction by fire over the course of 60 years, each time being reconstructed by its determined inhabitants. These recurring attacks reveal the harsh reality of living on a border where conflict was constant and survival required resilience.
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