Undiscovered Scotland

 

Sorbie Tower stands just to the north of the "B" road between Garlieston and Sorbie and about 1.5 miles west of the former. Access is signposted along a very minor road and there is parking opposite the entrance to the grounds of the tower.

The tower is the ancestral home of Clan Hannay, which includes all those bearing or descended from the family names Hannay, Hannah, Hanna or Hanney. It was gifted to the Clan Hannay Trust in 1965 and was in a very poor state by then. There are old photographs that show it as little more than a hollow shell almost entirely cloaked in ivy. In more recent times efforts have been made to restore the tower, with initial emphasis on stabilising and weatherproofing it. The photographs on this page were taken in May 2024 and show both the amount that has been achieved and the fact that the tower is very much still a work in progress.

The tower is set on a raised site in what was originally an otherwise marshy area. It was built between 1550 and 1575 by Alexander Hannay of Sorbie, whose family had owned land in the area for a century before. It wasn't the first defensive structure to be built on the site: a nearby motte whose mound can still be seen and climbed probably became home to a wooden fortification some time in the 1100s. (Continues below images...)

 

Sorbie Tower was sold to the Earl of Galloway in 1677 and when the last of his line died in 1748 the tower fell into disuse and later became ruinous. It is thought that a village grew up to the north of the castle during its active life, but little trace of it remains.

The ground floor is home to a series of small vaulted store rooms and to a kitchen with an impressively wide arch beyond which would have been the cooking fire. The first floor is accessed via stone steps and at the time of our visit gave the best idea of the work that has been done on the structure and how much more is still needed. Here the temporary roof that tops off the structure and the coverings over the window openings can be seen. Here, too, you can see the amount of steelwork that has had to be inserted into the wall between the main range and the rear range to keep the building standing. The vestigial traces of the original spiral stone staircase illustrates well one of the major issues that still need to be tackled. Upper floors also remain to be recreated but having an internal space that is usable and weatherproof is huge progress.

We stumbled over Sorbie Tower while on our way to somewhere else and are very pleased we did. It's one of those projects you find from time to time that really deserves to succeed. When you visit, as we did, and realise how much is left to be done, it's easy to wonder if the dream of a full restoration can be realised. On the other hand, once you see from old photographs how much has already been achieved, you begin to believe that anything is possible. Having the backing of the members of the Hannay Clan around the world can clearly only help and we'd love to return in a few years' time to take the "after" photographs showing a fully restored tower house.