Archaeology Notes

Event ID 687961

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/687961

NO34NW 5 3330 4662.

See also NO34NW 3619 5809 Castleton House

(NO 3330 4662) Castleton on Site of (NAT) Fort (NR)

OS 6"map, Angus, 2nd ed., (1903)

This is an undoubtedly Medieval (O G S Crawford 1949) rectangular earthwork at Castleton. Its entrance is to the SE, and the two remaining sides are bounded by a deep ditch. On the NE, the ditch is broad, and 12' to 14' deep, with a 3' high internal rampart. It is shallower to the SE. On the SW, the earthwork is effaced by a house and garden, while on the NW, there is a steep scarp down to a stream, but no ditch. Some Edward I coins and a spearhead have been found here. (New Statistical Account (NSA] 1845)

NSA 1845; D Christison 1900; O G S Crawford 1949.

This earthwork is obviously medieval, but the ditch measures no less than 50' wide, and would seem to be too substantial for a homestead moat. Probably the work represents a castle site, like Sir John de Graham's castle (NS68NE 1).

Information from RCAHMS typescript, visited 1956.

The remains of a dry medieval 'castle' moat, generally as described by Christison except that the "rampart" on the NE is obviously the result of landscaping and the counterscarp on the NE is mutilated by a modern footpath.

Visited by OS (W D J) 16 December 1969.

This rectangular enclosure is thought to be a defended medieval site. Test pits in a 20m by 30m area of the enclosure adjacent to the SW side of the modern house failed to locate any archaeological features although the pre-19th century ground surface had survived garden landscaping. Coring of the ditch on the SE side found c0.1m of sediment over sandstone bedrock.

Sponsor: HBM.

S Carter 1990e.