Grenehag (The Gatehouse Record of the Aglionby Platt)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Grina; Greenha

In the civil parish of Castleton.
In the historic county of Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Modern Authority of Scottish Borders, Scotland.
1974 county of Borders, Scotland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY46138072
Latitude 55.11812° Longitude -2.84563°

The given map reference is suggested as the probable location of Grenehag shown on the Aglionby Platt.

There are no visible remains.

The likely form(s) of this building in 1590 are;

Pele House ('bastle')
Tower House (gentry).

Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

Description

(NY 4616 8076) Greena Tower (NR) (Site of) (OS 6" map (1957))
Three local informants pointed out this spot in 1858 as the site of a Border tower, property of the Armstrongs, and the residence of Will o' Greena, well known in Border traditions (see NY48SE 8). Will Foster of Grena is on record in 1583. (Name Book 1858; RCAHMS 1956)
The indicated siting falls on gently sloping pastureland. No traces of a tower were seen. Dr Robson (Hawick Museum) has no information on this name, but doubts the existence of a strong house in this locality. Visited by OS (TRG) 2 July 1979
At NY 4613 8075 are the buried footings of a 2-compartmented rectangular building with a circular stair-tower in the SE angle. To the NW lies a possible stable block. Possibly the site of Greena Tower found by dowsing. Information from letter and plan from A Elliott, Providence Cottage, Bishop Auckland, Durham 10 November 1986.
The slight remains of a tower, at least two other buildings and an enclosure are situated in the N corner of an improved field above the Liddel Water, 800m NNE of Longrow farmsteading. The tower, at NY 4613 8072, is defined only by robber trenches about 1.3m wide, which are barely traceable in places, but it probably measured 10m by 7.3m internally. A robbed-out stance against the SE end may mark the site of an external stair. Immediately to the N there are the footings of two stone buildings. The N building measures 12.8m by 2.9m within walls no more than 0.2m in height; its long axis extends downhill towards the SE and there is an outshot at its lower end. The S building is aligned NE and SW and occupies a level stance that has been raised up along its SE side. The building measures 18m by 3.5m within walls which again stand only 0.2m high, and it appears to have two compartments. These two buildings stand at the E corner of an enclosure measuring about 40m square. To the SE of the buildings and to the NE of the tower there is a fragment of a rectangular structure, possibly the SE end of a fourth building.
The 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Roxburghshire 1853, sheet xlviii) depicts the 'Site of Greena Tower' a short distance to the E of these buildings, across a minor burn, but there is no trace of any structure at that spot (NY 4616 8076). (LID96 330-2)
Visited by RCAHMS (SDB) 13 March 1996 (Canmore)

The resident householder c. 1590.

Will o' Greena; Will Foster of Grena

Sources of information, references and further reading

Canmore (The online National Monument Record for Scotland) Number 67898.

Books
- Coventry, M., 2008, Castles of the Clans: the strongholds and seats of 750 Scottish families and clans (Musselburgh) p. 15
  RCAHMS, 1956, An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of Roxburghshire (Edinburgh: The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland) Vol. 1 p. 88 no. 91, p. 95 No. 112 online copy
  Jeffrey, Alexander, 1864, The History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire Vol. 4 p. 241 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Ellis, H., 1829, 'Copy of a manuscript tract addressed to Lord Burghley, illustrative of the Border topography of Scotland, AD 1590, with a platt or map of the Borders taken in the same year' Archaeologia Vol. 22 p. 161-71 online copy
Maps (Early maps)
- 1590, A Platt of the opposete Borders of Scotland to ye west marches of England (The Aglionby Platt) British Library online Gallery and Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Ordnance Survey (Name Book), Object Name Books of the Ordnance Survey (6 inch and 1/2500 scale) Roxburghshire Book No. 7 p. 181 online transcription (Held at RCAHMS on micro fiche)

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, RCAHMS (or its successor Historic Environment Scotland), County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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The Gatehouse website record of

Grenehag (Greena Tower)

a location shown on a 1590 map of the West Marches of Scotland (The Aglionby Platt)