Today we woke to gorgeous sunshine and decided after a nice breakfast we would burn off the calories by going for a healthy walk. Repentance Tower has been on our to-do list for several weeks but, we’ve always put it off due to the constant wet weather we were experiencing and knowing there is a steep climb to get up to it, and not wanting to risk it being too slippery or muddy. But today was just perfect.
So we donned our boots and headed out. The walk up to the tower is easy to locate, and
there seems to be two ways to approach it (we didn’t know about the second one until we came back down!). If you come off the B275 to go up to the tower, be prepared for a steep Climb up!! The alternative route, which isn’t such a steep climb, but still a climb is via The Hoddom & Kinmount Estates. Look for the sign for “Keepers Cottage” then keep walking a bit further up the road and you will find a footpath and sign on your right.
The walk itself is on grass farmland on a well trodden path and is just a short walk from the road. The entrance to Repentance tower is through a small gate. Although the tower is not open to the public the building itself is still in very good condition and you are able to walk all the way around it. The graveyard has some interesting headstones to look at from around the 1800s but the main purpose for walking up here is the view, a 360c panoramic is a must to see!! Pick your day and you will be well rewarded!!
Repentence Tower was built in 1565 by John Maxwell, 4th Lord Herries who also built Hoddom Castle (read more about Hoddom Castle here) It is claimed he unwisely used stone from the Trailtrow Chapel that had once stood on the same site in the construction of his castle and the Archbishop of Glasgow at the time may have required the watch tower to be built as recompense.
The tower is a rare example of a mid-16th century watch tower, standing in prime position on Trailtrow Hill, just a few miles inland from Annan.
It was not designed to be inhabitated, merely to provide an elevated place of safety from which sentinels or guards could keep watch on the surrounding land, and they certainly had good views! A bell and a beacon fire acted as signals to the Scots of any invasion.
Inside the stone wall grounds of the tower, are gravestones associated with the former chapel and some of these have interesting carvings upon them and worth walking around.
As to the origin of the name, there are several suggestions from religious reasons due to using the stone from the Trailtrow Chapel to a pledge that was broken and 14 scots put to the death and he built the tower in an act of repentance and a monument to those that had perished. Whatever the reason, it is a historic reminder of times gone by and worth the walk through time.
Thank for reading
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