[1] This structure should not be confused with the Abbot's Tower of Alnwick Castle.

The tower was built in the late 16th century as a refuge by Gilbert Broun, S.O.Cist., the last Abbot of the Cistercian Sweetheart Abbey.

Despite the abbey's suppression during the Scottish Reformation, Broun continued to uphold the Roman Catholic faith until he was arrested in 1605 and ultimately exiled.

By 1892, it was in a ruinous state,[3] with the portions of the walls still surviving to a height of 32 feet (9.8 m).

[4] Archaeological investigations in the early 1990s revealed remnants of outbuildings and portions of what were probably foundations of the barmkin walls.