Gilsbie (The Gatehouse Record of the Aglionby Platt)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Gillesby

In the civil parish of Hutton And Corrie.
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: NY17179192
Latitude 55.21465° Longitude -3.30311°

This is certain as the location of Gilsbie shown on the Aglionby Platt.

There are masonry footings remains.

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

Tower House (gentry).

Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

Description

(NY 1717 9192) Gillesbie Tower (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map, (1958)
See also NY19SE 33 Upper Fenton, Architectural Fragments
Fragmentary remains of a probably 16th century stronghold originally some 41' by 35', with walls about 6' thick. An earthen rampart with outer ditch, which formed an arc from the steep river bank on the E round the tower to the bank again, has been cut through by a modern road. (RCAHMS 1920)
In a map of c. 1590 'Gilsbie' tower is shown E of the River Annan. (Burghley c. 1590)
The tower measures overall 9.0m NW-SE by 12.5m transversely with walling 2.0m thick and in the SE corner 5.5m high. The interior is heavily overgrown and walling unsafe, but in the SE is a well-preserved garderobe. The court measures c. 25m NE-SW by c. 20m transversely, the enclosing rampart remaining to a maximum height of 2.2m while the ditch is 2.6m deep. Name confirmed. Resurveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (D W R) 7 December 1971
On the right bank of the Dryfe Water, there are the remains of a 16th-century tower-house. It stands to first-floor level, has round-chamfered external angles, and a garderobe chute, descending from second-floor level, in the S angle. The interior is choked with debris but measures 12.2m from SW to NE by 9.3m transversely over walls up to 1.9m in thickness. The tower, which is set side-on to the river-cliff, occupies the S portion of a D-shaped enclosure defined by a ditch up to 5m broad and 2.6m deep. On the N, there is an inner bank (up to 5m thick and 3.2m high), remodelled at least once, which has been truncated by the public road that transects the site. A medial cut across the bank is probably the result of modern disturbance but may be on the site of an original entrance. Beside the ditch, to the NE of the tower, a rubble spread suggests the provision of a wall to continue the line of the bank.
The earthwork possibly predates the tower. For a number of architectural fragments which may have come from the tower see NY19SE 33. Gillesbie is on record in 1486 and was the property of the Grahams. Visited by RCAHMS (IMS) 15 May 1990.
Listed as tower and earthwork. (RCAHMS 1997) (Canmore)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Canmore (The online National Monument Record for Scotland) Number 66945.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MDG9001.

Books
- Maxwell-Irving, A.M.T., 2014, The Border towers of Scotland 2: Their Evolution and Architecture p. 59-60, 89, 456
  Coventry, M., 2008, Castles of the Clans: the strongholds and seats of 750 Scottish families and clans (Musselburgh)
  Maxwell-Irving, A.M.T., 2000, The Border towers of Scotland: their history and architecture: the West March p. 146-5 no. 34
  RCAHMS, 1997, Eastern Dumfriesshire: an archaeological landscape (Edinburgh) p. 116
  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. 107-8 no. 287 online copy
  Hyslop, J. and Hyslop, R., 1912, Langholm as it was: a history of Langholm and Eskdale from the earliest times p. 320- 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.
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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

Gilsbie (Gillesbie Tower)

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