Smailholm Tower Smailholm Tower is a peel tower at Smailholm , around five miles ( 8 km ) west of Kelso in the Scottish Borders . Its dramatic situation , atop a crag of Lady Hill , commands wide views over the surrounding countryside . The tower is located at grid reference , just west of Sandyknowe farm , and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the care of Historic Scotland . In June 2007 it was awarded the maximum " five - star " status as a tourist attraction from VisitScotland , a rating bestowed on only eight other sites in Scotland . History . Smailholm Tower was originally built in the 15th century or early 16th century by the Pringle family . This family , originally spelt Hoppringle , who were followers of the Earl of Douglas , held the lands of Smailholm from the early 15th century , and managed part of Ettrick Forest for their feudal superior . The word - holm stands for little island . And Smail might be Smale , Smail , Smaile , Small , Smalles , Smalls , and Smeal ( l ) , derived from the Old English pre 7th Century " Smael " meaning " small , slender or thin " , and was originally given as a nickname to one of slight stature . Smailholm Tower was designed , in common with all Scottish peel towers , to provide its occupants with protection from sporadic English raids . The tower was attacked by English soldiers in 1543 , 1544 and again in 1546 , when the garrison of Wark Castle sacked the tower and carried off prisoners and cattle . The castle was successfully defended against the English in 1640 , by Sir Andrew Ker of Greenhead . Smailholm was obtained by the Scotts of Harden around this time . The Scotts – ancestors of Sir Walter – rebuilt parts of the tower and barmkin . In the 18th century the tower decayed , following the family ' s move into nearby Sandyknowe . The last owner , the Earl of Ellesmere , handed the property into state care in 1950 . It was restored in the 1980s , and now operates as a museum . The tower . Smailholm was a relatively small tower house , offering around 200 m of floorspace , later extended by construction of a hall house and second kitchen within the " barmkin " , or courtyard . The rectangular tower is of four storeys , situated on top of a rocky outcrop . The tower is approximately 12 . 1 m by 9 . 4 m , with basalt rubble walls 2 . 4 m thick . The vaulted basement was originally divided into two floors by a wooden " éntresol " reached by a ladder . The door is on the south side , in a large red sandstone arch , with the turnpike stair in the south - east corner . Above the vault is the hall , with a fireplace to the north featuring a carved human face . The top floor has an unusual elliptical stone vault which supports a stone flag roof . Parapet walks run along the longer north and south sides , although both are interrupted – the north by a chimney and the south by a window . These upper parts of the tower , including a gunloop in the west gable covering the " barmkin " , were remodelled in the 17th century . The tower is surrounded by the remains of a stone " barmkin " wall , within which the ruins of outbuildings and a small chapel are still visible . The east part of the " barmkin " once contained a small garden , all of which is now gone . The western barmkin is more intact , with walls up to first floor level around the narrow entrance in the west wall . The courtyard , around 16 m by 19 m , contains the foundations of a single - storey hall house of the 17th century to the north , and a two - roomed kitchen block to the south . A ditch protects the western approach to the tower , the other three sides being naturally protected by the face of the outcrop . One hundred metres to the southeast , more earthworks mark the presence of a much older settlement , probably dating from the first millennium BC . Smailholm Tower is now used to display an extensive array of model people illustrating the history of Smailholm and the stories of Walter Scott , a display created by two local artists and employing high - quality embroidery and modelling techniques . From 2006 , experiments were conducted on the roof to establish the most suitable damp - proofing method to apply to other such properties , including the planting of turf or mats of sedum plants . As a result of this , a restoration project in 2010 / 11 reinstated a turf roof over the entire structure . Sir Walter Scott . The tower provided inspiration to Sir Walter Scott , who visited his paternal grandfather here when still a boy . Scott spent considerable time at the tower during his youth , reportedly for the benefit of his health . Smailholm provides the setting for Scott ' s ballad " The Eve of St John " , and also appears in " Marmion " . As a result of Scott ' s poetry , his uncle restored the tower , making it safe , around 1800 . Turner visited Smailholm with Scott in the author ' s later years ; his sketch of the tower was included in Scott ' s " Poetical Works " . Turner ' s journey with Scott traced scenes from Marmion , and not long after this , the pioneer of photography Fox Talbot repeated Turner ' s itinerary , publishing what is considered to be the first photographic travelogue or tourist coffee - table book , " Sun Pictures in Scotland " in homage to both Scott and Turner . In Popular Culture . It was also the centerpiece of the children ' s adventure novel " In the Keep of Time " by Margaret J . Anderson , in which four English children staying with their aged Aunt Grace travel through time by means of a magical key , first to the time of James II , then to a future after the fall of civilization .