Rusco Castle

Rusco Castle, also known as Rusco Tower, is a historical tower house located near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built in the early 16th century, this castle has a rich history that has been captured in poems and records over the centuries.

The tower was originally built for Mariota Carson and her husband Robert Gordon, who were gifted the lands on which it stands by Carson’s father. In the 16th century, Rusco Castle was used to incarcerate some of the Gordons’ rivals. However, after Robert Gordon’s death and Carson’s remarriage, their son James Gordon feared that his mother would give the tower to her new husband, Thomas Maclellan of Bombie. In response, Gordon seized the tower and imprisoned his mother, before killing Maclellan on the High Street in Edinburgh while a court case was ongoing.

Despite several changes in ownership over the centuries, Rusco Castle remained inhabited continuously until the late 19th or early 20th century. By the mid-20th century, the building had fallen into disrepair, but it was later designated a Category A listed building by Historic Environment Scotland and purchased and renovated by a Scottish businessman named Graham Carson. Although Carson attempted to discover if he was related to the Carsons who originally owned the estate, he was unable to document a connection. Today, the castle remains in the Carson family and is still used as a domestic dwelling.

From the outside, Rusco Castle is a rectangular tower house that is four stories high, including its attic. It has a wall walk inside its parapet, and its external footprint is approximately 11.8 meters by 8.8 meters. Stone water spouts project from the roof, and the tower is noted for its chamfered windows, small and irregularly placed, and corniced on the upper floors. The main entrance, located on the north wall, has a broad segmental arch and was formerly a doorway into a now-demolished 17th-century extension.

The interior of Rusco Castle is equally impressive, noted for its sophisticated arrangement of small rooms built into the thickness of its walls. A turnpike stair with a newel, which ascends the full height of the tower, is also built into the wall. The ground floor is divided into several store rooms and guard rooms, one of which has a trap door dropping down to a windowless dungeon. The first floor features a great hall with beamed ceilings and arched windows, while the second and third floors each have a single large chamber with fireplaces and garderobes.