Description

The monument consists of the remains of Balgavies Castle, destroyed by James I during his journey to the north after the defeat of Argyll in 1593. The castle is sited on a small, wooded knoll. All that remains of the castle are two adjoining barrel vaults, a further partly buried one which leads to a subterranean passage, and portions of surrounding wall footings.

The accessible vaults are aligned E-W, and measure 9.5m by 6.5m overall, with walls a maximum thickness of 1.3m. They are rubble-coursed, about 3.1m wide and 2.5m high. The W one has a rectangular window in its N end. The floors of the vaults are sunk 0.8m below the outer ground level. The remains of a wall 1.25m from the vaults can be traced along the S and E and more traces of structural walling are evident to the N of the exposed vaults, extending over the partly buried vault.

4m to the SW of the vault are the footings of a rectangular building with a central partition measuring 17.5m N-S by 7m E-W overall. Further amorphous footings extend to the S.

The area to be scheduled is irregular measuring a maximum of 40m E-W by 40m N-S, to include the vaults and surrounding buried features, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it consists of the remains of a substantial castle, sacked by James I in 1593, which dates from the fifteenth century or earlier. As such it provides information and evidence and has the potential to provide further evidence, through excavation, for defensive architecture, social organisation and political history, domestic occupation and material culture in Scotland during the medieval period.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NO 55 SW 13.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland