The four-storey tower house was named the Stirling Tower after the original lords of Edzell, the Stirlings of Glenesk, although it is not old enough to have been built by them. It is high, and measures by on plan. The walls are over thick at the basement, narrowing to on the first floor. The tower house is entered from the north, via a door protected by "inverted keyhole" shaped gun holes. A slot adjacent to the door would have held a draw-bar, to reinforce the entry, and several mason's marks remain around the door. The hall occupies the first floor, above two vaulted cellars. Marks in the wall show the position of a minstrels' gallery and a timber screen, which concealed a serving area accessed via a narrow stair from the cellar. The broad main spiral stair led up to three further storeys of private chambers, before reaching a caphouse, a small rooftop chamber giving access to a parapet walk. The four corners of the tower have bartizans, or open turrets, and similar projections occur halfway along each wall. The parapet is supported on projecting stones, or corbels, arranged in a pattern of two tiers which alternate, rendering the lower tier purely decorative. Edzell represents an early occurrence of this style, known as chequered corbelling, which became more widespread later in the 16th century.