Torthorwald Castle

Torthorwald Castle is a badly ruined tower and courtyard on a prominent ridge to the east of Dumfries. The fenced off enclosure is in fields used by livestock, and is accessible on foot although the paths can be boggy underfoot. There is no dedicated parking nearby, and parts of the site are very overgrown.

Torthorwald was a property held from the Bruce family, and the earthworks around the castle may date to the 13th century, or be much earlier. The lands passed to the Kirkpatrick family, loyal retainers of Robert Bruce, in 1321, and it is probable that they founded the great tower, which is in a very precarious state of repair, and partially collapsed in 1993. Very little of the other buildings survive and the site has been quarried. Later the tower was extended by the Carlyle family, and it is likely they were responsible for the largely vanished courtyard buildings. In 1547 the castle was handed over to English forces, and soon afterwards an inheritance dispute caused the break up of the estate, and the castle fell to the Maxwells. it was then repeatedly sold and eventually fell into disrepair towards the end of the 17th century, being badly ruined by 1788.

HES Canmore database entry