Description

The monument comprises a castle of 16th-century date, converted into a military barracks in the 18th century. It is in the care of the Secretary of State for Scotland and is being re-scheduled to clarify the extent of the protected area.

The monument lies in grassland at around 450m OD. It comprises Corgarff Castle, a plain rubble-built tower measuring approximately 11m long by about 7m wide, with walls measuring about 2m thick. It stands four storeys high and is entered from the first floor. At each end of the tower is a wing one storey high. Surrounding the castle is a rectangular curtain wall with a triangular salient on each face; the wall is looped for muskets.

The curtain wall and the low wings at each end of the tower were added to the castle in the mid 18th century, when Government troops were stationed at the castle following the 1745 uprising. The castle occupies the site of an earlier tower, destroyed in 1581. The earlier tower was also enclosed within a perimeter wall, which also contained other buildings. Remains of these earlier buildings may be expected to survive as archaeological deposits below ground level.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to be found. It is rectangular, measuring 39.5m NNE-SSW by 51m WNW-ESE, and is defined by a modern fence, which is itself excluded from the scheduled area, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its contribution to our understanding of defensive architecture from the 16th century and because of the insights that it gives into the history of the pacification of the Highlands following the Jacobite uprising of 1745. Its significance is enhanced by the potential of its below-ground archaeological remains to shed further light on the material culture of its periods of occupation and use. Its importance is reflected in its status as a Property in the Care of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NJ 20 NE 1.

References:

Cross, M, 1994, Bibliography of Monuments in the Care of the Secretary of State for Scotland, 119-20. Glasgow.

Lindsay, M, 1994, The castles of Scotland, London, 152.

MacGibbon, D and Ross, T, 1887-92, The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries, 5v Edinburgh, vol. 2, 66-8, Fig. 532-3.

Shepherd, I A G, 1994, Gordon: an illustrated architectural guide, Edinburgh, 70.

Simpson, W D 1927, 'Corgarff Castle, Aberdeenshire', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, Vol. 61, 48-103.

Tabraham, C and MacIvor, I, 1993, Corgarff Castle. Historic Scotland, Edinburgh.
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Corgarff Castle
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Source: Historic Environment Scotland