Description

Fairburn Tower is a 16th century tower-house with early 17^th century additions, located on a ridge between the Rivers Conon and Orrin. Restored, 2020-22.

The narrow, square plan tower has four stories (including vaulted basement) and an attic. The walls are of lime pointed and harled rubble. There are gun-loops at the ground floor level. A projecting tower containing a broad circular stair was added to the south side during the 17th-century. The attic level has crow-stepped gables and corbelled-out turrets on the northeast and southwest angles. There is a corniced apex chimney stack to the stair tower.

The vaulted basement was not initially accessible from the exterior and was reached from a straight stair within the north wall. The projecting stair tower masks the earlier first-floor entrance doorway with plain moulded surround. The first floor contains the main hall and several mural closets or wall chambers. Each of the upper floors consists of one room of the same size as the hall, again with several wall chambers.

The tower was restored as holiday accommodation by Simpson and Brown Architects for the Landmark Trust (2020-2022). The spiral staircase and the conical roof turrets have been reintroduced, and the roof recovered with grey slate.

Adjoining the east wall of the tower is the roofless remains (2022) of a two-roomed thatched cottage containing a large arched fireplace with an oven which appears to have been from an earlier kitchen wing.

Statement of Interest

The tower occupies a commanding position on a hilltop ridge overlooking Strathconon and the Orri valley. A former stronghold of the Mackenzies, the tower was probably built for Murdo Mackenzie after he received a charter for the lands with the understanding that he built a house there.

Listed Building Record revised 2022.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Fairburn Tower at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17569798

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
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  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
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  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
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  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide