Mossburnford Tower (site of)

A peel tower is said to have stood here, although any traces of it have now gone.

The Statistical Account of Scotland, published in 1799, likens Mossburnford to the tower at Dolphinston Castle:

“The tower on Mossburnford ground, N. from Dolphiston, which is nearly entire, is built and divided in the same manner, but far inferior in strength.”

The description given for Dolphiston is as follows:

“The walls are from 8 to 10 feet thick, built of hewn stone, and so closely cemented with lime, that it is found more difficult to obtain stones for building from it, than from a quarry. It has been extensive, and divided into small apartments by stone partitions. Several vaulted apertures are in the middle of the walls, large enough for a small bed, and some of them so long, as to be used by the tenants for holding their ladders.”

Writing in 1854, the Ordnance Survey Name Book describes the site as “one of those strongholds or Peel so numerous along the borders. The foundations still remain and are visible where the road crosses them”.