The cone-shaped Maule Monument is a distinctive landmark perched atop a low hill in Glen Esk, Angus. Sometimes referred to as Rowan Tower or Maule Cairn, it was erected on the summit of Hill of Rowan in 1866 by landowner Fox Maule Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie and 2nd Baron of Panmure.
Designed by Aberdeen-based architects George Jenkins and George Marr and constructed by Robert Dinnie of Birse, it commemorates seven deceased members of the Maule family and was also dedicated to the then-living Lady Christian Maule, Lady Ramsay Macdonald, and the Earl himself. The Earl and his wife had no children, and the monument was intended as a physical reminder of the soon-to-be-extinct line of the Maule family. The tower originally included an inscribed stone plaque, but local lore says angry crofters evicted from their homes on the estate smashed it.
A large, rubble-built truncated conical tower, about 50 feet high and 38 feet in diameter, the monument features a bullet-shaped quartzite finial. The tower was rebuilt in 1887 after a partial collapse.
A Category B listed building since 1971, it enjoys panoramic views overlooking the River North Esk, Glen Esk, Glen Mark, and the eastern fringes of the Cairngorms. Within the tower, accessed through a slender arched doorway with iron gate, there is a 12-foot-high beehive chamber. The gate is usually locked.
Access is on foot following minor roads initially, then decent moorland tracks and paths up Hill of Rowan from the village of Tarfside where there is a public car park (grid ref NO 492796). The direct hike is relatively short but largely uphill to the summit, although the gradient is gentle. A four and a half mile long loop incorporating the tower offers a more satisfying outing.
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