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MHG2996 - Site of castle, Castletown

Summary

The site of a castle depicted on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map and which was still visible as an earthwork in 1972.

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

Castle (NR) (Site of)
OS 6"map, Iverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1906)

(Shown by '2' as an L-shaped pecked outline).
OS 25"map, Inverness-shire, (1870)

The remains of a grass-covered mound, containing the vague traces of a wall 0.5m wide and 0.3m high, indicates the possible presence of a building.
The original shape of the mound or the building could not be traced due to extensive quarrying on the NE and SW side of the mound, probably for the railway embankment close by.
It is suggested by Mr Meldrum that this is a motte similar to that at Cantraydoune (Information from E Meldrum, County Architect's office, Inverness).
Earthworks surveyed at 1:2500 scale.
Visited by OS (N K B) 14 August 1964.

All that remains of this castle is an overgrown bank of earth and stones, 18.0m NNW-SSE, 2.0m high and spread to 11.0m. It turns at each end towards the W but is then truncated by quarrying and the railway embankment. In the bank are traces of built walling which is particularly well-defined at the N corner where a stretch of what is probably the outer face of the N wall of the castle survives for a length of 3.0m and a maximum height of 0.5m. It seems likely that the bank is not an earthwork but the overgrown tumbled castle wall. There is no evidence for this being a motte as suggested by Meldrum.
Visited by OS (I S S) 27 August 1972.

The mutilated remains of this castle stand 80m SSE of Castletown farmhouse. A ditch 3m broad and 0.5m deep encircles the S and W sides of a mound which stands to a maximum height of 2m, but which has been partly destroyed by railway construction on the NW and by quarrying on the NE. A fragment of wall at the N corner of the mound is all that now remains of a possible hall or tower. <1>

During a walkover survey in 1998 it was noted that the site of the castle survives as a flat-topped mound lying between the railway line and the modern track. At the time it was badly obscured by whins. In appearance it suggests a moated site, similar in form to Cantraydoune, although the report notes the earlier comments of the OS field investigator in 1972. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 74930 42709 (50m by 50m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH74SW
Civil Parish	CROY AND DALCROSS
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

External Links (1)