Greenknowe Tower, Gordon, Berwickshire, Scottish Borders

Greenknowe Tower, Gordon, Berwickshire, Scottish Borders

Greenknowe stands half a mile west of the Berwickshire village of Gordon. The L-shaped tower consists of a four storey main block with a wing one storey higher. Above the door in the re-entrant angle are shields with the arms of Seton and Edmonstone with initials and the date when the tower was built; 1581.

Three of the angles of the building are surmounted by small turrets with gun-loops and in the re-entrant angle above first floor level rises a stair turret. In the basement is a vaulted kitchen with an arched fireplace. A wide newel stair rises only to the first floor, the rooms above are accessed from the turret stair.

Greenknowe came to the Setons by marriage with a Gordon heiress. In the 17th century it passed to the Pringles of Stichel and was the home of the famous Covenanter Walter Pringle of Greenknowe. The well-preserved ruins are in the care of Historic Scotland.

Location: Scottish Borders, Berwickshire, Gordon
OS sheet: 74 NT GR: 639429