Glenbran
Enclosure (Period Unknown)
Site Name Glenbran
Classification Enclosure (Period Unknown)
Alternative Name(s) Kilwhinnie Den; Carquhanan Old Castle; Ballairdie; Balchuinnie
Canmore ID 30676
Site Number NO23SW 22
NGR NO 2440 3320
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/30676
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Abernyte
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
Scheduled as Glenbran, ring fort.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 13 February 2001.
NO23SW 22 2440 3320
See also 'castle' at Ballairdie (NO 253 319), NO23SE 32.
Two or three hundred yards from the site of the Stockmuir circle (NO23SW 13) was the old Castle of Balchuinnie. Its stones most probably may be looked for in the farm house of Glenbran (NO 240 336) but it is still possible to trace the foundation on the green knoll and they shown that the castle must have been one of considerable extent.
L Melville 1939
Field Visit (24 November 1989)
The remains of this roughly circular enclosure are situated on a low rise within a plantation on the W side of the Kilwhannie Den; it enjoys natural defence on the side towards the Den but has gentle approaches from all other directions.
The enclosure measures about 21m in diameter within a low turf-covered bank which measures up to 4.5m in thickness and 0.3m in height. The lines of the original inner and outer wall-faces are marked by short lines of robbing trench, the stone from which has probably been used in the construction of nearby dykes. There is no evidence of an entrance or any internal features.
On an estate plan of 1756 (SRO, RHP 1005) the monument is annotated 'Carquhanan Old Castle, the remains of a round fortification', giving rise to the belief that these are the remains of a castle. Stobie (1783) annotates his map 'Carquhannan Castle in ruins' and this view is perpetuated in the New Statistical Account (1845) and by Melville (1939). The name of the monument, however, has given rise to confusion; the New Statistical Account identified Stobie's Carquhannan with the locally-known Ballairdie or Balchuinnie, and Melville refers explicitly to it as 'the old castle of Balchuinnie'.
In terms of shape, size and scale of wall the site is similar to sites in Angus, including Dumbarrow Hill (NO54NE 5), Rob Reed's Dun (NO45SE 30) and Turin Hill (NO55SW 1), also the ring-forts of N and W Perthshire.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, IMS) 24 November 1989.