Sorbie Tower Conservation Work

The third try was a charm for Clan Hannay Society officials hoping to get conservation fund­ing for Sorbie Tower.

 The Tower, long in need of some TLC, fell into exceptional disrepair in recent years, a victim of moss, errant tree roots and the frequent drizzle for which Scotland is famous.

 The Clan Society spent 40,000 pounds in the last 40 years, not nearly enough to keep the moss at bay and prevent further deterioration.  Membership dues and the occasional donation from overseas wasn't enough to stem the ravages of time and nature, so Society officials began vying for grants from the Heritage Lottery, and Historic Scotland, a group dedicated to preserving the most important historical monuments in Scotland.

 After two failed attempts, the Society decided they needed help. They found it in Packard Harrington, an archeologist who has worked on other excavations within Wigtonshire.  He wrote the grant application, explaining the importance of the site, and was successful in getting a 10,000-pound grant from Historic Scotland and 70,000 pounds in Heritage Lottery funds. That, along with 15,000 pounds from the Society means the Tower is getting a much-needed face lift.

 In granting the funds, Historic Scotland deemed Sorbie one of the most important historic sites in Scotland. According to the restrictions placed by Historic Scotland, the funds must be spent by March 2002 and stone-masons specializing in preserving historic sites were hard at work in October, hoping to beat the winter frost, which makes mortaring impossible. Scaffolding enveloped the Tower, like chain-mail on a medieval knight and Clan members hoping to get a closer view of the Tower while in town for the Society's annual gen­eral meeting in October, were held off by a chain link fence around the perimeter of the site.

 Historic Scotland does not allow restoration to its sites, so the work being done at the Tower is limited to preserving what is left. That means killing tree roots, scraping off moss, and applying lime mortar to keep the crum­bling at bay.

Although some council members would prefer to restore the Tower, Convener David Hannay (son of chief Ramsey Hannay) said he was grateful for any injection of funding for the Tower and was willing to work within the constraints placed on them.

"If it is a question of taking it down because it is danger­ous or propping it up temporarily for 20 or 30 years, we'd prefer to prop it up”, he said.  “the key is stop everything from falling”.