Arcleton (The Gatehouse Record of the Aglionby Platt)

In the civil parish of Ewes.
In the historic county of Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
Modern Authority of Dumfries And Galloway, Scotland.
1974 county of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY38019151
Latitude 55.21396° Longitude -2.97571°

The given map reference is suggested as the probable location of Arcleton shown on the Aglionby Platt.

There are no visible remains.

The likely form(s) of this building in 1590 are;

Tower House (gentry).

Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

Description

A tower is shown at Arkleton (NY 378 914) on a map of 1590. It was given to Ninian Armstrong by Robert, Lord Maxwell in 1537. Moulded stones from it are built into the present house. The RCAHMS describe two incised stones, built into the walls of Arkleton. One is a marriage stone of Walter Eliot, dated 1671, and the other also bears an inscription relating to Walter Eliot. (J and R Hyslop 1912; RCAHMS 1920, visited 1912)
Dr M Robson of Wilton Lodge Museum confirms the existence and general siting of this tower. His records indicate that there were extant remains until the early 19th century, before it was entirely demolished. The site is locally believed to be on rising ground just to the N of Arkleton House, now in a landscaped garden. The house is entirely mid-19th century and later construction and incorporates no obvious earlier material apart from the two inscribed stones. These stones are as described; one is inserted in a wall inside the house, and the other in a garden annexe wall on the N side of the house. (Visited by OS (JRL) 25 September 1979)
This tower, recorded on a map of 1590, is said to have stood 'just to the N' of Arkleton House, into the fabric of which two inscribed stones have been incorporated, one bearing the name of Walter Eliot, the other the initials WE and KF and the date 1671. (RCAHMS 1981)
Listed as tower. (RCAHMS 1997) (Canmore)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Canmore (The online National Monument Record for Scotland) Number 67788.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MDG8088.

Books
- Coventry, M., 2008, Castles of the Clans: the strongholds and seats of 750 Scottish families and clans (Musselburgh)
  Coventry, M., 2001, The castles of Scotland (Musselburgh)
  Maxwell-Irving, A.M.T., 2000, The Border towers of Scotland: their history and architecture: the West March p. 264 no. 70
  RCAHMS, 1997, Eastern Dumfriesshire: an archaeological landscape (Edinburgh) p. 116
  RCAHMS, 1981, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Ewesdale and Lower Eskdale, Annandale and Eskdale District, Dumfries and Galloway Region (RCAHMS Archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland 13)
  RCAHMS, 1920, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Seventh report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of Dumfries (Edinburgh) p. 84 no. 226 online copy
  Hyslop, J. and Hyslop, R., 1912, Langholm as it was: a history of Langholm and Eskdale from the earliest times p. 359 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Ellis, H., 1829, 'Copy of a manuscript tract addressed to Lord Burghley, illustrative of the Border topography of Scotland, AD 1590, with a platt or map of the Borders taken in the same year' Archaeologia Vol. 22 p. 161-71 online copy
Maps (Early maps)
- 1590, A Platt of the opposete Borders of Scotland to ye west marches of England (The Aglionby Platt) British Library online Gallery and Old Cumbria Gazetteer

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, RCAHMS (or its successor Historic Environment Scotland), County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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The Gatehouse website record of

Arcleton (Arkleton)

a location shown on a 1590 map of the West Marches of Scotland (The Aglionby Platt)