Braes Tower

Description

The earthwork and buried remains of Braes Pele medieval tower and barmkin, an adjacent shieling and associated enclosure, a second shieling, and a corn drying kiln. The remains of the pele tower include turf covered foundations measuring circa 9m square and up to 0.6m high with walls 1.5m thick. Turf covered remains of the barmkin wall can be seen to the south east of the tower and enclose an area 30m square. (PastScape)

Braes Pele tower and barmkin, the two shielings, enclosure and corn drying kiln survive well. The monument is a rare example of the juxtaposition of a pele tower and shielings and will thus facilitate any investigation into the contemporaneity or otherwise of these structures. Additionally the monument will add to our knowledge and understanding of the wider border settlement and economy during the medieval period.
The monument includes the earthworks and buried remains of Braes Pele medieval tower and barmkin, an adjacent shieling and associated enclosure, a second shieling, and a corn drying kiln. 'Pele' is an alternative term to 'tower', and 'pele towers' are members of the wider family of defensive buildings in the northern borderlands which also include tower houses and bastles. The monument is located on the hillside approximately 350m east of Borderrigg and is divided into two areas; the corn drying kiln being a short distance to the east of the pele and shielings in a separate area.
The remains of the pele tower include turf covered foundations measuring c.9m square and up to 0.6m high with walls 1.5m thick. Turf covered remains of the barmkin wall can be seen to the south and east of the tower and enclose an area approximately 30m square. A short distance to the north of the pele there are the turf covered foundations of a two roomed medieval shieling measuring c.14.5m east-west by 7m north-south with an associated enclosure measuring approximately 15m square immediately to the north. An earthwork boundary runs from the shieling southwards towards the pele. On the eastern side of the barmkin wall there are the remains of a second shieling; a single roomed building measuring c.16.5m by 8m with its long axis aligned north-south. About 50m to the east of the complex of pele tower and shielings are the remains of a corn drying kiln associated with these structures. It survives as a circular stone-lined hollow measuring c.7m in diameter with a splayed stoke hole on its south side. The kiln has been dug into the hillside and its presence indicates the existence of small scale arable cultivation in the area. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

This is universally called a tower although it was ruinous in 1854 and it is not known how many storeys the building was. The remains are not securely dated. The location is not that of a gentry status building. It is not mentioned in any of the march surveys. Is this, in fact, a square pelehouse type bastle?