Description

The monument is the remains of Ballinshoe Castle, a rectangular tower house with two storeys and an attic dating to the late 16th or 17th century. The castle stands on the N side of the Vale of Strathmore at around 95m above sea level.

The tower measures 8.3m N-S by 6.6m transversely. Parts of the N and S gables survive to their original height, though some parts of the attic walls do not survive to wall-head. The remains indicate that there was a single apartment on each floor, with timber floors that are no longer present. There are two fireplaces, at first floor and attic level. A projecting turnpike stair tower at the NE corner no longer survives above ground level, but the lower courses of a small circular turret remain in situ at the SW corner at attic level.

The scheduled area is rectangular on plan, to include the remains of the castle and an area around it in which evidence for the castle's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. On the N side, the scheduling extends up to but excludes the road. The scheduling also excludes the above-ground elements of post-and-wire fences, a gate, and the above-ground elements of field walls extending E and W from the castle. The monument was last scheduled in 1961, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a good example of a later 16th- or 17th-century tower that has the potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of post-medieval domestic fortified dwellings, their architecture, construction, maintenance, development and abandonment. There is significant potential for the survival of important archaeological remains, including artefacts and traces of additional structures within and around the tower which can enhance our understanding of how such buildings functioned, as well as adding to our understanding of the daily domestic life of the inhabitants and their society and economy. The walls of the tower are largely complete and there is potential to study and record the upstanding fabric of the castle. The monument holds a significant position within the local landscape and retains interest as a romantic ruin. The loss of the monument would diminish our ability to understand the form, function and character of small, post-medieval fortified houses in eastern Scotland and further afield.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Further Information

RCAHMS records the monument as NO45SW 1. The Angus Sites and Monuments Record reference is NO45SW0001.

References

MacGibbon, D and Ross, T 1887-92 The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries, vol 3, 598-9.

RCAHMS 1984, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of central Angus, 2 (medieval and later), Angus District, Tayside Region, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 22, Edinburgh, 14, no 57.

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/33848/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland