Description

The monument consists of an impressive motte, the site of an early wooden castle, situated on the S side of the valley of the Endrick Water.

The motte occupies the crest of a slight ridge from which the ground falls steeply to the valley floor on the NE. To the SW, a slight hollow separates the site from a steep slope. The motte consists of an oval mound enclosed by a broad ditch. Except on the W, where it is 2.9m high, the mound stands about 5m above the present bottom of the ditch. The top is level and measures a maximum of 38m E-W by 23m N-S. A stretch of the ditch on the N side has been destroyed by erosion, but elsewhere it is still up to 12m wide and 1.5m deep. In medieval times Fintry lay within the earldom of Lennox and it is possible that the motte was the residence from which Maldouen, 3rd Earl of Lennox, gave two charters during the middle years of the 13th century.

The area to be scheduled measures 100m WNW-ESE by 90m N-S, to include the mound and ditch of the motte and an area around in which traces of activities associated with the construction and use of the motte may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance for its potential contribution to an understanding of medieval defensive architecture and the evolution of high-status settlement in central Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded in the RCAHMS as NS 69 NW 6.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland