Scheduled Monument

Colquhonnie CastleSM5637

Status: Designated

Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

Summary

Date Added
03/03/1993
Supplementary Information Updated
20/06/2018
Type
Secular: castle; tower
Local Authority
Aberdeenshire
Parish
Strathdon
NGR
NJ 36525 12592
Coordinates
336525, 812592

Description

The monument consists of the remains of a sixteenth-century

towerhouse thought to have been built by Forbes of Towie and known as Colquhonnie Castle. The building is situated in the valley of Strathdon, between the Colquhonny Hotel and Lonach Hall. The building, which is said never to have been finished, is built on the L-plan, its long elevations lying N and W.

It measures 13.9m E-W by 12m N-S over walls 1.4m thick. The walls are of large randomly-spaced granite boulders with smaller rubble pinnings. The walls stand to a height of about 8m in the E portion. The remains consist of the massive ground-floor barrel-vaults and a fragment of the vaulted first floor of the E wing.

The entrance in the re-entrant angle is well protected by two gun-loops and a wide-mouthed shot-hole. A recess for keys or a lamp is positioned on the E side, within the door. The interior arrangements are somewhat obliterated, but the basement organisation is still discernible. A passage led from the door through to a spiral stair, now demolished, at the centre of the N wall.

The basement was divided into three vaulted apartments; that at the NW contained the kitchen, with a fireplace in the N wall; the SW cellar has a small vaulted room entering of it, the E wing contains the entrance. The upper storey of the E wing consisted of a vaulted private room, with several windows, mural recesses and a small fireplace in the E wall.

Nothing survives above the basement level of the main block and it is questionable whether anything was ever built above that level. The area to be scheduled is rectilinear, measuring a maximum of 17.9m E-W by 16m N-S, but excluding the modern wooden buildings, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as it is an example, although fragmentary and incomplete, of a sixteenth-century towerhouse which provides evidence and has the potential to provide further evidence through excavation for domestic architecture, construction practices, social organisation and material culture during the late Middle Ages in Scotland.

References

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NJ 31 SE 2.

References:

MacGibbon and Ross, D and T 1887-92, The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries, 5v, Edinburgh, Vol. 3, 459.

Simpson W D 1921, 'Notes on five Donside castles', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, Vol. 55, 148-9.

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

Images

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Printed: 28/03/2024 22:43