Publication Account

Date 2006

Event ID 1019770

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1019770

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Livingstons seem to have built a new residence. Fragments of Kilsyth Castle (NS 7173 7865) (fig 3) survive on the north side of the burgh at Allanfauld. Archaeological excavation has shown that the castle was originally built c 1500 as an L-shaped tower. Its short west wing had been considerably enlarged in 1605, according to a dated sill stone recovered from the debris. The castle is clearly depicted on the late sixteenth-century manuscript map of Stirlingshire by Timothy Pont. It shows an L-shaped tower with adjacent wing surrounded by a barmkin wall and within enclosed wooded parkland (fig 4). The property was destroyed during the English invasion of 1650. It remains, up to 1m high in places, can still be seen on the west side of Allanfauld Road, South of Allanfauld Farm (NS 7173 7865).

Information from ‘The Scottish Burgh Survey, Historic Kilsyth: Archaeology and Development’ (2006).