Scheduled MonumentsScotlandMains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead
Post-Medieval · Laird's house and farmstead

Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead

Scotland
HES SM13660
Period
Post-Medieval
Site type
Laird's house and farmstead
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland

Overview

History & significance

Mains of Torhouse is a post-medieval laird's house and farmstead located in Wigtownshire, south-west Scotland. The site occupies ground underlain by Gala Group wacke bedrock, Telychian in age, which would have provided durable stone for building and field clearance across this upland farming landscape. As a laird's residence combined with working farmstead, the monument represents the integrated domestic and agricultural economy of a Scottish landed estate during the early modern period, when lairds managed their own lands alongside tenant farming.

The physical remains visible today reflect the functional layout typical of such establishments, where the proprietor's house stood close to the working farm buildings and surrounding fields. The wacke stone of the locality shaped both the construction methods and the labour involved in creating agricultural infrastructure, from field walls to outbuildings.

The site is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland's reference SM13660, recognising its significance as evidence of rural settlement hierarchy and land management practices in post-medieval Wigtownshire.

Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13660. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead?

Mains of Torhouse is a post-medieval laird's house and farmstead located in Wigtownshire, south-west Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13660.

What period does Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead date from?

Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead dates from the post-medieval period, and is classified as a laird's house and farmstead. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead?

Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM13660.

What other scheduled monuments are near Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Torhouse Stone Circle (1.5 km), Torhousekie, fort (1.9 km), White Cairn,cairn & Hole Stone 400m N of Crows (2.2 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead

Mains of Torhouse, laird's house and farmstead stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.