Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Saquon Barkley Plaque
Kirkkasik Bedesten inside
Kirkkasik Bedesten
Someshwar Temple
Someshwar Temple
Grilled cheese and tomato soup are soulmates.
The Palisades Restaurant
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
A skeleton on display contemplating its own mortality.
Kid Mai Death Awareness Cafe
This classic London pub has a surprising history behind it.
John Snow
The beef, Guinness, and oyster pie sports a rich, flaky crust.
The Guinea
Welcome to one of the only floating pubs in the world.
Tamesis Dock
This may be the oldest pie in the world.
St Helens 'Oldest Pie' at The Turks Head
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Decoy’s wines reflect the terroir of California.
How a Wooden Duck Migrated From the California Wetlands to a Wine Label
11 days ago
There’s more to the French capital than the Eiffel Tower.
Dear Atlas: What Are Some Non-Touristy Things to Do in Paris?
15 days ago
The plants around Liz Dauncey in this photo are not poisonous, but many common garden and houseplants are.
Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.
21 days ago
“There may be a collective sense of a dark loneliness,” Dahl says, referring to Norway’s natural landscape.
In Norway, Easter Means Tucking Into Crime Stories
21 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United Kingdom Scotland Dunmore Elphinstone Tower

Elphinstone Tower

Built in the 16th century, the tower is now in ruins.

Dunmore, Scotland

Added By
katielou106
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
The vault door stands open   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
The vault door stands open   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
Elphinstone Tower   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
Elphinstone Tower peeking through the trees   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
One of the corbelled out bartizan round   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
Overgrown graves   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
A tomb in the graveyard   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
One of the gravemarkers   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
One of the burial niches   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Cellar   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Pathway to tower   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Signpost   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Cellar   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Footpath to tower   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Surrounding landscape   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Family heraldic crest   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Elphinstone Tower, also known as Dunmore Tower or Airth Tower, is a ruined tower house currently sitting within the Dunmore Estate. Originally, the tower would have had views across the low-lying ground to the River Forth. 

The tower dates to the early 16th century, when it was built by Sir John Elphinstone as the seat of the barony of Elphinstone. Before his death in 1638 Alexander Elphinstone, the 4th Lord of Elphinstone had added a gallery and a new hall to the tower.

In 1754, the Elphinstone Tower was purchased by John Murray, the son of the 3rd Earl or Dunmore, for the princely sum of £16,000. Two years later, John inherited the earldom, and renamed the estate Dunmore after his title. The tower was extensively refurbished at least twice in the 19th century, 

In the 1820s, the 5th Earl of Dunmore commissioned the building of Dunmore Park, which was to become the principal residence on the estate. Following this, the additions to the tower were demolished to enable the construction of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, a private chapel that was completed around 1850. The ground floor of the tower was then modified and remodeled as a family burial vault.

St. Andrew's Church was demolished in the early 1960s, leaving the tower section standing alone. During the 1960s, it stood as a rectangular tower with four stories, each of which contained a single room. Then in a 1968 storm, the northwest angle of the tower collapsed. Today, the tower is complete only at the ground floor level, with the east side rising fairly complete, the corbeled-out bartizan rounds at the two corners still visible beneath the onslaught of ivy and overgrowth. Parts of the first floor walls to the north and the south can also still be seen, but the rest has collapsed.

The remains of Elphinstone Tower now stand at nine by seven meters, and the walls are 17 meters high to the parapet. The burial vault on the ground floor has been cleared out, and thankfully there are no bodies or coffins left. Behind the tower are a small grouping of gravestones. The burials within the churchyard predate this building.

Related Tags

Architecture Ruins Towers

Know Before You Go

Park at the carpark for the Pineapple and walk to the tower.

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Flavors of Scotland: Beyond the Haggis

Smoked seafood, single malt whisky, and warm hospitality.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

katielou106

Edited By

SEANETTA

  • SEANETTA

Published

October 7, 2022

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Elphinstone Tower
St Andrew's Drive
Dunmore, Scotland, FK2 8LY
United Kingdom
56.081028, -3.784983
Get Directions

Nearby Places

The Dunmore Pineapple House

Dunmore, Scotland

miles away

Dunmore Park House

Dunmore, Scotland

miles away

Torwood Blue Pool

Falkirk, Scotland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Dunmore

Dunmore

Scotland

Places 3

Nearby Places

The Dunmore Pineapple House

Dunmore, Scotland

miles away

Dunmore Park House

Dunmore, Scotland

miles away

Torwood Blue Pool

Falkirk, Scotland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Dunmore

Dunmore

Scotland

Places 3

Related Places

  • St Hilary’s Chapel tower with Denbigh Castle behind it.

    Denbigh, Wales

    St Hilary's Chapel

    This tower is all that remains of a once-famed chapel.

  • Kula Gradina

    Rošci, Serbia

    Kula Gradina

    This tower is all that remains from a medieval fortress.

  • Su Nuraxi di Barumini

    Barumini, Italy

    Su Nuraxi di Barumini

    This one-of-a-kind archeological site is home to strange prehistoric ruins, the original use of which is still a mystery.

  • Johannesburg, South Africa

    Ponte Tower

    The tallest residential building in Africa is an unsettling Brutalist monolith.

  • Barnsley, England

    Tankersley Old Hall Ruins

    The ruins of a significant 16th-century building once appeared in a 1969 film.

  • Birkenhead Priory

    Birkenhead, England

    Birkenhead Priory

    The oldest standing building on Merseyside is special for its rich history as a Benedictine monastery and its unique connection to the origins of the Mersey Ferry.

  • Church of St. Sophia in Nessebar

    Nessebar, Bulgaria

    Hagia Sophia Church

    This fifth-century church is one of the oldest Christian sites in the Balkans.

  • Pune, India

    Taljai Mansion

    The crumbling ruins of an old stone mansion sit atop a hill in the middle of Pune.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.