Description

The "hall of Walchtoun" is mentioned in 1395, and the "hous of Waughtone" in 1569, when Robert Hepburn, son of the laird, raided 16 horses from the stables. The castle occupied a low natural prominence, with a rock scarp facing north; and traces of a ditch on the north; the site measures overall some 100m east-west by 40m north- south, and is divided into 2 roughly equal parts by a depression running north-south across it.

At the south-west corner stands the remains of what was probably the wing of a tower-house, whose base projects from the foot of the scarp. This stands about 10m high and is built of local igneous rubble with lighter-coloured freestone dressings at the quoins and windows. A narrow window in the south has an edge-roll, suggesting a 16th-century date. On the north and east the site is bounded by a wall, which, however, represents simply the extension of the policy wall of the nearby farmhouse.

There are remains of other foundations on the site, including the site of a chapel, indicated by the OS (on uncertain evidence). The area to be scheduled includes the castle site thus described, and an area of land immediately surrounding it, including the wall on the south, as shown in red on the accompanying plan.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its contribution, and its potential to contribute through excavation, to our understanding of late medieval domestic defensive settlement. It may be expected to contain evidence relating to the architecture of the period as well as material relating to the lives of the castle's inhabitants.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 58 SE 19.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland