Archaeology Notes

Event ID 689321

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/689321

NO50NW 4.01 51871 05001 Mausoleum

NO50NW 4.02 5181 0531 Cottage

NO50NW 4.03 51939 05059 Gate Piers

NO50NW 4.04 52033 05243 Stable Block

NO50NW 4.05 52026 05248 Kitchen Block

NO50NW 4.06 52033 05276 Walled Garden

NO50NW 4.07 51973 05274 Garden House

NO50NW 4.08 52025 05235 Dovecot

NO50NW 4.09 52015 05271 Sundial

(NO 5200 0522) Kellie Castle (NR)

OS 6" map (1919)

Kellie Castle. The north tower is probably early 16th century and was originally attached to a barmkin, and the east tower is c.1573. The main block, running E-W, with a south tower, was added in 1606. This connected up the north and east towers and resulted in a "T" shaped plan. The towers have five storeys and the main block three. The masonry throughout is coursed rubble. In 1878, when in disrepair the house was judiciously restored and is now occupied.

The lowest part of the west gable appears to be older than the rest of the main block and may be the remains of the original barmkin.

RCAHMS 1933

Kellie Castle. The north tower probably dates from the 15th century.

O Hill 1953

Professor J Lorimer, who restored Kellie Castle in 1878, believed that the north tower, the original keep, probably goes back to 1360, or even to the days of the Saxon family of Seward but MacGibbon and Ross think it is at least a century later.

D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887

As described by the Commission.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 20 August 1968

Owned by the NTS, opened 1971.

NO 520 052 Scotia Archaeology Limited excavated several narrow trenches to accommodate a new drainage system on the N and W sides of the castle. The main trenches, one running E-W across the S face of the castle and the other linking into it along the building's W side, totalled roughly 90m in length and were dug by a mini-excavator under archaeological supervision. Seven smaller trenches, running up to the castle walls, were excavated by hand.

The foundations of a narrow, E-W masonry wall (located just E of the N tower) and two stone culverts (probably the remnants of an earlier drainage system) were the only structural features of interest uncovered. There was evidence to suggest that there was an infilled ditch about 20m W of the castle.

In addition, a small trench was excavated against the S wall of the central range of the castle to accommodate a new power supply. This revealed a thick layer of clay used to seal the wall's foundations; a stone kerb which may have been associated with the clay; and the remnants of a paved surface, also thought to be contemporary with the adjacent range which was built between 1573 and 1606.

Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.

H Smith 1995.