Lincluden Collegiate Church
Lincluden
College Tower is a 16th century stone tower house, founded by the
Provost William Stewart.
In the late 14th century the area
became part of the fief of Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway, and
latterly
Archibald the Grim,
3rd Earl of Douglas. The nuns at Lincluden had reputedly broken
their vows of chastity and were guilty of licentious behaviour,
Douglas with an eye on the revenues from the priory, sat in
judgement over them and found them guilty. He dismissed the nuns
from the priory. Perhaps penitent at the expulsion of the nuns, Earl
Archibald ordered the construction of a new church to be built, and
set up a College consisting of a Provost and twelve Canons.
Following the capture of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas at
Battle of Homildon Hill, and his later capture at the Battle of
Shrewsbury, the Earl spent some time as a prisoner of Henry IV of
England where he struck up a friendship with the King. This is
evidenced by an open letter of the 20th April 1408 from Henry to all
his northern castellans. This forbids them, should they enter
Scotland for military purposes, from harming or damaging persons or
property pertaing to the College of Lincluden for a period of three
years.
Earl Archibald and his successors spent a great of
money on ornamenting the church, and there are many fine armorial
carvings still within the ruins. Still extant is the tomb of
Princess Margaret, Countess of Douglas and Duchess of Touraine, the
daughter of Robert III of Scotland and wife of Archibald Douglas,
4th Earl of Douglas.
Robert Douglas (q.v.)
was the eighteenth and last provost of Lincluden. The Provostship of
Lincluden was secured for him by his father, Sir
James Douglas of Drumlanrig circa 1547. Robert Douglas's
grand-nephew, William
Douglas, the heir of Drumlanrig, obtained a reversion of
the provostry, and, after Robert's death, enjoyed its property and
revenues during his own life.
After the Reformation, the
three storey range immediately adjacent to the church, was doubled
in length and a four storey tower added to its northern end.
Guarding the ground floor entrance, is the remains of a projecting
semi-octagonal stair turret, with gunloops.
The tower
stands in the bailey of Kirkhill Mote and 5 miles east is
Torthorwald Castle.
Lincluden College Tower is located
north of Dumfries, off Abbey Lane. A mile north of Dumfries, on the
A780-A76.
The site is owned by Historic Scotland and is
open daily.
 a |
bb |
cc |
| Tomb of Margaret, Countess of Douglas |
Inscription on the tomb |
Douglas armorial bearings in the abbey |
James
Well's map of Lincluden, c1780
The
armorials below Margaret's tomb, photographed in 2014
Margaret's
Tomb, from The Antiquities of Dumfries and its Neighbourhood
Collected and Drawn by John McCormick
See also:
•
The Castles of the Black Douglases, by Callum Watson
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