Its small windows are constructed with simple relieving arches and stand with the exception of the light into the Ground floor at heights of over thirty feet.

Adjacent to the turnpike is the main entrance to the building, which in times of war could be accessed by a wooden stair or ladder that could be retracted within, the door on the ground being firmly secured.

Although there is no records of its construction, Kirkhope was presumably constructed by the early part of the 16th century in accordance with an act of the Scottish Parliament, dated 1535 that required large landholders in the Borderlands to build barmkins of stone and lime, sixty square feet in area and with walls of one ell thickness and six ells in height "for the resett and defense of him, his tennents, and his gudis in troublous tyme".

Kirkhope was burnt and its stock removed during the campaign of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk in the early stages of the Rough Wooing of Mary, Queen of Scots, by Henry VIII of England.

Wat Scott, although the subject of many Border ballads is perhaps best remembered by his wife's reaction to empty stores, presenting him with his spurs on a platter for dinner – a signal to ready his men for a raid.

By 1907 the tower was the poetic subject of eleven stanzas by Scottish Border poet and Australian bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963), a romantic reflection of its former life contrasted to its present state: I climb by the broken stairway; the great grey wall Runs fair and free to the roof, uncrossed of beam; And that that was lady's bower, and this that was hall Where the strong men feasted, are one; and again I dream, Kirkhope Tower was rescued from ruin in the later part of the twentieth century and by 1996 it was again in use as a private residence.

In 2007 Peter Clarke was interviewed and gave a tour of Kirkhope Tower on the BBC TV programme Castle in the Country, first aired on 16 July 2008, in episode 6 of the 4th series.